


'Love?' 'Yes, Darling?'

by ZombieResponseTeam



Series: Frebecca [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cedric Lives, Multi, OC has powers, Original storyline interwoven, Sirius Lives, harry's twin - Freeform, wolfstar forever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:54:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 131,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29709858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieResponseTeam/pseuds/ZombieResponseTeam
Summary: Voldemort is back and only getting stronger.  The Wizarding World is falling farther into madness, people are going missing, Sirius and Remus are gone on mission after mission, and the Order is keeping more secrets from Harry and Rebecca than ever before.It seems like N.E.W.T. preparation will be the last of their worries, especially since Voldemort knows what Rebecca did--He knows she brought Sirius back from the Veil.Sequel to "All I Ask Of You"SIXTH YEAR AND ONChapters 5k words minimum!
Relationships: Cedric/George, Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Ron, OC/Fred Weasley
Series: Frebecca [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178483
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	1. PRE--96

**Just putting the few chapters that lead up to Half-Blood Prince so that when the new story starts, all of year 6 is together.**

**"Get up." Narcissa commanded** from Draco's doorway. "It's time. I suggest you not 'wonder' anything up today. It will not bode well for you."

Draco gave up his feigned sleep and sat up in bed, his heart heavy. Seeing that he was awake, Narcissa left him to his misery. Draco sat on the edge of his bed a few minutes, his mind blank. His birthday had been weeks earlier, but the Dark Lord had been called to Scotland on urgent business. Today was His return, today was Draco's initiation.

A dark suit had been set out for him by the maid, a suit that he pulled on with the abandon that a man on death row would have recognised as his own. Draco's life was ending, this was it. For all that damned Hufflepuff boy had spoken about choice, for Rebecca's speaking of nothing behind inherently bad, this was it.

 _"I could refuse."_ He thought, staring at his ragged appearance in the mirror. _"I could say no. He'll kill me, but I won't be one of them."_ Rage flashed through Draco at the sight of him, shrouded in black like the rest of them. He knew he wouldn't say no. As afraid as he was of a life among monsters, he was more afraid of death. He hated his cowardice, but he still couldn't make himself choose differently.

Finding no other excuse to delay his exit, Draco jerked to a stop at the door. He raised a shaky hand to the chain around his neck, the chain from the kindest action anyone had ever done for him: The chain with the shrunken rendering Rebecca had given him two years prior. He unclasped it for the first time since he'd put it around his neck, steering his eyes away from the image.

It fell to the floor with a muffled thump and Draco continued down the stairs; Down the stairs where the Dark Lord waited.

*******************************************

_"You will."_

_"You will."_

_"You will."_

Rebecca sat up in bed, her eyes opening quickly. Ginny didn't wake, already having adjusted to the nightly occurrences. Rebecca had returned to the clearing almost every night after the first time, though the dread followed, that entered and killed the grass and lead to the falling of the leaves, that hadn't been there since.

No, instead she wandered about the tall grass. Some nights the tree's eyes were open and she avoided the gaze of their knowing iries. Other nights the tree was just a tree and she found herself sitting on its roots. More often than not, the tree would stare into her like it had the first night. It sorted through her mind, her feelings, her thoughts. Looking, judging, discerning.

Rebecca slipped out of bed and made her way downstairs, putting the kettle on and stepping out of the house when it was through. The mug steamed in the cool morning air, swirling up in the space above its warm contents. Sighing, she sipped from the cup and looked out over the hills laden with the fog that dissipated with the sun's first rays.

"Up early." Arthur remarked, taking a seat on the seat next to her. He sat in silence a moment, trying to figure out what exactly to say.

"Yeah, woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."

Arthur sat back, sipping from his cup before glancing at her. "Sleep well?"

Rebecca let out a harsh laugh, "I didn't see anything, if that's what you're asking."

Arthur didn't believe her. "What are your plans today?"

Rebecca latched onto the change in topic with a passion, just happy he wasn't pressing for details on what had her up with him most mornings. "I think Harry's expecting me at Grimmauld this afternoon."

"Probably smart." Arthur elaborated when she looked to him confused. "When was the last time you sat and chatted?"

Rebecca sighed, "I've been a little preoccupied." She stood up, the peace of the morning disturbed.

"I know," Arthur laid a hand on her shoulder, her back to him. "Family is there to help us--A task that's awfully hard to do to when left in the dark."

Rebecca nodded and stepped out of his grip, leaving the tea left in her cup on the counter and climbing back into her bed where she promptly buried herself under the blankets. _"Help. Pah!"_ She clenched her fists, her nails leaving small crescent shaped indentations in her palms. _"No one can help if even I don't know what's wrong."_

Molly climbed the stairs around lunch, curious as to where her morning-companion had snuck off to with Arthur left for work, mentioning a slight disturbance. "Girls?"

Ginny rolled over, knowing she wasn't going to be allowed to sleep in any longer. "I'm up."

Rebecca stayed under the covers, not saying anything. Molly eased the door open and lifted the top most blanket. Then the second. Then the third. "I know there's someone in this bed!" Molly laughed, "There!" Rebecca sat up, her face plain. "Where were you? I haven't had a morning alone since summer started."

Rebecca shrugged, "Tired, I guess."

Molly sat on the edge of the bed, her disbelief evident. "Really?"

Ginny left the room, clothes in hand and blissfully unaware of the tension growing between the room's other inhabitants. "What?" Rebecca bit her tongue, her tone too sharp. Molly sat in silence, well versed in the art of getting an answer without asking a question. "I just want to sleep. I want to close my eyes and do whatever it is normal people do. That shouldn't be hard."

"Was it anything-"

"No. I almost wish it was."

"Don't say that!" Molly stood up, her hands clasped together. "Don't even joke!"

Rebecca stood up too, frightened at how Molly was reacting. "Okay, I'm sorry." Molly pulled Rebecca into a hug, holding Rebecca's head to her chest. "I am. Sorry, that is. Very sorry."

Molly shook her head and tightened their embrace. "Don't you ever, ever say that again. Don't even think it."

"Will you be checking?" Rebecca looked up cheekily, hoping some well-timed humour would fully forgive her rudeness.

"Checking?"

"My thoughts, of course. In case I think it."

Molly rolled her eyes and swatted the back of her head, leaving the room with warnings that lunch was on the table and Ron was already down stairs. Rebecca pulled on old clothes: Her oldest pants, her most worn shirt, her dingiest jumper. The familiarity brought comfort nothing else could as she tried to make her mind feel like her own again.

Some mornings, especially after the tree- _"Or whatever it was."_ \- Rebecca self corrected, it made her head feel like it had after Voldemort had gone through it. Sharp, jumbled, foreign. Jumping off the last step, Rebecca downed the rest of her tea before grabbing one of the remaining sandwiches. Biting into the excellence, she turned to the front of the house, deciding that a chore would be the perfect thing to keep her occupied until it was time to go.

*******************************************

"My sweet, sweet goddaughter!" Sirius shouted as he tore through the house into the room Rebecca had flooed in. "Catch!"

Rebecca's hands jerked up, snatching the _stuffed kneazle?_ "Sirius?"

"RUN!" Sirius screamed, cackling as Harry barreled into him and Remus jogged into the room after. Rebecca did as she was commanded, taking off around the couch where Harry tried to stop and switch directions to catch her.

"Nice seeing you!" Harry called, panting heavily.

"You too!" Rebecca lunged to the left so that Harry dove in that direction before hopping over the couch and tossing the toy to Remus who sighed happily.

"Thank you! Now we're done."

Sirius scowled. "Clearly I didn't go over the rules."

Rebecca laughed, "Clearly. What even is this game? Aside from utter madness, of course."

Remus grimaced, "Big dog, little dog."

Sirius laughed harder, taking a seat in the room and losing it completely. "I-" He shook his head, laughing too hard to talk. "I named it!"

Remus motioned for Rebecca to follow him, rolling his eyes. "Tea? Spot of lunch?"

Rebecca nodded, Harry's voice following them down the hall as he and Sirius tried to shout over one another. "I'll have some tea, if you're making." She glanced over her shoulder, "Are they always this...excited?"

Remus gave her a look before chuckling and waving his wand at the kettle on the stove. "Yes, nearly every minute. It's a welcome reprieve though, someone else to entertain him a bit." Remus reached up into the highest cabinet and pulled out an old, raggedy biscuit tin that, once opened, revealed a stash of chocolates. "There's something, it's practically spelt on your face."

Rebecca sighed, taking a chocolate and letting it melt on her tongue, trying to turn her jumbled thoughts and feelings into words. "I was hoping to talk to you and Sirius a moment. It's really strange, stupid really..."

Remus said nothing but pulled out a third cup, pouring a tea and adding the copious sugar and milk Sirius preferred. "And Harry?"

Rebecca looked up into his eyes, lost. "I don't know."

Remus pursed his lips, finding a terrifying similarity in her face. The scar around her eye--that was a facet of this similarity, that was true--but it occured to Remus at that moment that it wasn't that, it wasn't necessarily physical. It was something in her eyes, something off. "I think he'll be joining us too then." A fourth cup joined the table and Remus slid the tin closer to her so that she would take another.

The two R's sat in quiet in the few minutes it took for Harry and Sirius to collect themselves from the room they were still rambunctious in and they tumbled down the hall to the dining room, pausing at the mood inside. "Something wrong?" Harry asked nervously, taking the seat across from Rebecca.

"It's not..." Sirius looked over Rebecca carefully before glancing at Remus who shook his head quickly. "Oh thank Merlin."

Harry tilted his head and looked between the men before opening his mouth in realisation. "It's not?"

"No!" Rebecca's face burnt as the Harry and Sirius sat back in the chairs in identical expressions of relief. "Hell, why is that always the assumption? I'm-We're-Just stop!"

Harry grimaced, remembering what had happened the last time he'd tried to make an assumption and/or judgement on anything between she and Fred. "Sorry, as you were saying."

Remus put the chocolates in the middle of the table and poured Harry tea, "Nothing had actually been said yet."

Rebecca sighed. "I have to talk to these two," Rebecca motioned to Remus and Sirius. "Just, listen, I guess." She waited until she got three nods, Sirius lifting his cup to his lips and sipping carefully, his eyes wide with concern. "I've been..." Rebecca looked away from them all, focusing on a point on the wall behind Harry's head. "I've been having this dream. For all I can tell, it's not a premonition. My head doesn't hurt, it hasn't hurt once."

"Once?" Harry interjected before shaking his head in an apology.

Rebecca shrugged, "It's alright, I guess. Maybe I wasn't clear. I don't like talking about this. Feels wrong, almost. Like I should just-" Remus laid a hand on her arm, prompting her to get back to the point. "Sorry. Yes, once. It's been happening since summer started, nearly every night."

Harry's face set in a scowl, somehow knowing that she'd already told Fred more than he'd known.

"I'm in the forest, it's a place I've been before." She gave the quick background Remus needed about the significance of the clearing and what had happened with the unicorn therein. "But it's different. The tree. It's absurd--" She looked at them sheepishly. "That tree's alive."

"All trees are alive." Remus pointed out, not understanding.

"No!" Rebecca shook her head, grabbing her teacup so that her hands had something between them. "This tree...It talks. To me. It looks in me."

Sirius dropped his teacup with a clatter. "The Forbidden Forest?"

Rebecca nodded, "Yes, it's deep-"

"-There's a path that only you see, that led you there." Sirius finished.

"Yes! You've been there?" Rebecca found herself incredibly grateful that no one was acting like she was crazy.

Remus gasped, "Reg-"

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!" Sirius shouted, slamming his hands on the table before wringing them in front of him as he stood nervously. "Remus," Sirius shook his head, using his full name. Not a nickname, not a pet name, his full name. "I am so, so sorry. I don't-"

Remus held up a hand, "It's okay, I understand."

"Understand what? What am I missing?" Harry leaned forward, looking at all three of them. "What do you know about this?"

Sirius sat back down and put her head in his hands, taking a moment. When he sat back up, he was the oldest he'd ever looked. "That clearing, that tree...I followed my brother there in our seventh year. We'd already become animagi at that point and it was a furry-night, as we called them. Imagine my surprise at seeing Ickle Regs in the forest in the middle of the night!" He let out a harsh laugh.

Rebecca was on the edge of her chair, in utter disbelief that not only did someone else know about the tree, but that they weren't calling the loony bin on her. "What happened? Did he say anything?"

Sirius spat, crossing his arms and falling silent a long pause. "I hadn't spoken to a him for nearly two years at that point, no. I don't know what he was doing."

"This tree has roots, doesn't it? With the little knotches?" Remus asked, motioning with his hands the shapes he was talking about.

"Exactly!" Rebecca cried, "The trees make a circle around it!"

Remus took a sip from his tea, trying to think. "On my nocturnal nights, I can't remember where I go. It's not like I'd popped out on a walk, it's different. But, that tree. That tree was something we avoided because it was different than the ones around it, it felt different."

Harry narrowed his eyes, "A tree? You said the tree talks and 'looks at you', can we go back to that?"

Sirius tore his eyes from Remus to watch as Rebecca's hands danced along the surface of the table, muffled taps coming from her chewed fingernails. "It tells me that I will understand. That's it." She shook her head. "It doesn't look _at_ me. It looks _in_ me. It's like-It's waiting for me to do something before it will tell me more, I think."

Harry turned to Sirius, "What happened to your brother? Maybe he'll-"

"He's dead." Sirius interrupted. "Not that he would have helped anyway. Ended up a Death Eater like the rest of them."

Rebecca sipped from her cup, feeling like a weight had been taken from her shoulders at their understanding. Of course Fred would have tried to understand, he had after the first night. But with how busy he was at the shop and how much she just wanted things to stay as nice and peaceful as they were between them. Well, that was what had kept her bottling it up for so long. "So, I guess I've told you all of this because I need help."

Harry, remarkably, kept his shock from showing. _"She's actually saying she needs help?"_ The seriousness of the situation dawned on him right then. _"She's scared."_

Rebecca fiddled with her cup, not looking up at them. Sirius took point, hoping that showing some rare initiative would stun Remus into forgetting about his outburst. It was hard for him to think about Regulus, let alone hear his name spoken. Hearing his name only brought out the deep-seated guilt that plagued Sirius. _"If I hadn't left...I could have saved him."_ If he hadn't runaway to the Potters', if he'd stayed and suffered alongside Regulus, maybe he wouldn't have joined them. "First thing, sleep." Sirius winced, "Sorry, love, but you're knackered. That's got to be fixed."

Rebecca felt a flash of insecurity. "That obvious?"

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius' attempt. "Not at all, we just know you better." Remus took over. "You need a course of action. I would find this clearing on a map and start researching in the library."

Sirius scoffed, "Typical Moony. Even when we were in school 'The Library' was always your answer!"

"And I was always right!" Remus countered, launching in an argument.

Harry was still staring at her. "You could have told me." Her eyes flitted away from the intense light shining from his. "You could have told me at any time."

"It's nutters. It's-It's just a dream."

Harry shook his head. "It's clearly not." He sighed. "Did you?"

"Did I what?" Rebecca asked quietly, barely heard over Sirius loud bickering.

"Did you at least tell Fred? Not that I love being out of the loop, but someone should have known."

Rebecca still wouldn't meet his eyes. "I told him after the first time."

"Why would you do something so stupid?" Harry asked, Sirius and Remus falling silent at the end of his question.

Rebecca felt angry first, all-encompassing rage at his judgement, but it faded into an ache that seemed to wrench at her core. "I just wanted..."

Harry waved his hand on, "Extra danger? A short life? A-" Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder, silencing him.

"I wanted to be normal." Rebecca whispered, suddenly feeling just as stupid as Harry had said. She was complaining in front of a werewolf and an ex-convict. "This was stupid. I'm sorry."

Harry bit his cheek sharply before answering with a level tone. "We're not normal and we won't be. Doesn't excuse stupidity."

Remus caught Harry's eyes and shook his head slightly, telling him that was enough. "I think what Harry means is that-"

"He's right." Rebecca offered as she sat back in her chair, her shoulders slumped. "I just thought it would go away if I didn't talk about it."

Sirius sighed and nicked a chocolate before Remus pulled it back from him and set it between he and Rebecca. "You three go and make yourselves comfortable."

Remus led Harry and Rebecca into yet another room, Sirius closing the door behind him. Taking the chair, as opposed to sitting on the couch with the three of them, Sirius pushed his hair out of his face and pursed his lips. "Everything I'm about to say, I'm only doing so because I want you aware. Not afraid, aware."

Rebecca nodded, a pit forming in her stomach at his tone.

"Regulus..." Sirius closed his eyes at the word. "Our mother was not a forgiving woman. She had rules and she expected them to be followed. When we were kids," Remus listened carefully. Between Sirius' time at Azkaban and his general dislike of such heavy conversation while they were in school, Remus didn't know all that much about Regulus from Sirius' point of view, only what he'd gathered himself and come to know from their own interactions. "I did my best. I took the blame, I covered up, I took the punishment. If he messed up, I messed up bigger."

Harry wondered if Rebecca was hearing the similarity between her actions when it came to others.

"When I was sixteen, as I've told you both, I left. I went to-I went to a safe place and I left him behind." Sirius shook his head. "He'd already made his alliance clear, but if I'd stayed-"

"If you'd stayed, she would have killed you." Remus said curtly. Hearing Sirius talk about the life he'd lived with the Blacks, the years Remus had watched Sirius return to school hurt, it only relit the flame of hatred and protectiveness he'd felt back then.

"If I'd stayed," Sirius continued like Remus hadn't spoken. "Maybe he wouldn't have turned." Sirius grabbed the arms of the chair and leant forward, his words quicker now. "He took the mark in our seventh year, the year the war had really turnt for the worst. There were killings, the Dark Mark showed up nightly, Voldemort was nearing his peak...That was what I saw him doing in the clearing, the night we saw him out in the Forest. He was showing the tree his mark and shouting something about 'it being done.'"

Rebecca gasped, "Is i-The mark?"

Harry crossed his arms, "So we get back to school, find the tree, and burn it to the ground!"

Remus stretched his arms out and put them around each of them, pulling them closer. "No, we need to be smart. Not angry, not worried, smart."

Sirius nodded, "You stay away from that tree. Do you both hear me? If I catch a single word, a whisper about you two going off into the forest, I will pull you out of Hogwarts before you can say 'whoops.'" They nodded, Serious Sirius being someone they'd had little time with and someone they did not want to go against. "Moony's right." Sirius sighed, knowing that he wouldn't hear the end of saying that. "If you need answers, you ask the library."

Remus smirked proudly. "What was that?"

Rebecca ignored their playing. "What happened to him?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "No one is entirely sure, it's not like Death Eater's arguments with He Who Must Not Be Annoyed had a column in the Daily Prophet."

Harry sighed, "Then, aside from the extra homework, that only leaves sleep."

Remus stood up quickly, an idea blossoming. "Pads, remember the prank from fourth year?"

"We were awfully busy, you'll have to be-Oh! That one?"

"Yes, with the-"

"-the charm and the-"

"-and the necklace and the-"

Sirius and Remus fired back and forth for nearly a minute, leaving Harry and Rebecca to sit on the couch and look at each other entirely lost. Harry chuckled, "Yeah, they do this a lot."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, Sirius shouting now. "It's nice."

Remus and Sirius turned back to Rebecca in unison, pulling their wands out. "We need your necklace."

Her hand flew to it, toying with the golden chain as she had a hundred times before. "You're not going to-"

"We're not asking." Sirius said before changing his tone at Remus' look. "It'll be fine."

Rebecca unclasped it and let it fall into the palm of her hand before holding it out to them. The men ran out of the room, talking over one another. "Shop still doing well?" Harry asked, not wanting to sit in silence.

"You were there yesterday." Rebecca sighed, "But yes, it's doing better than well. Perfect, really."

"You don't sound like it."

Rebecca looked at him, a light smile toying at her lips. "Observant of you, not entirely characteristic."

Harry scowled. "I can be observant when I want to. You're changing the subject."

Rebecca conceded, "I've been forbidden to work the next two weeks. I got away with going in everyday but now I'm paying for it."

Harry shook his head, "I think Molly just wants you to take a break. You look-" Harry winced, "You look exhausted."

"Well, being tormented by a tree isn't conducive to a full eight-hours, is it?" She looked away. "Sorry. That was harsh."

"Why don't you see if you can stay over tonight? Rems put in a telephone. Call back and ask." Harry had an idea, one that he was certain would get him brother-of-the-year. Maybe even of-the-century!

Rebecca looked over her shoulder where Remus and Sirius had disappeared. "I don't know."

"They'll love it and Ginny will probably appreciate a quiet night."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Harry blushed, "She owled earlier in the summer to see if there was a way to..."

"A way to what?"

Harry stood up, "Just call and ask, I'll be right back." He left the room, but not before pointing down the hall to the kitchen where the phone was hung on the wall. Harry poked his head in the room where Sirius and Remus were bent over the necklace, flipping through a book. "I have a question."

*******************************************

"Oh, wow." Rebecca whispered as Sirius put dinner down in front of them. "You weren't joking."

"Why would I joke about cake for dinner?" Sirius scoffed and looked to Remus. "Who does she think I am?"

Remus put a plate of fruit on the table. "For those of you who need a modicum of nutrition." Rebecca grinned and plucked some of it off, eating her cake with a gusto that felt strangely comforting. After the return of her necklace and an explanation that it should expel outside forces (and dealing with a very angry Harry at the face that it had never been offered earlier, until Remus explained that it wouldn't have worked against Voldemort) they'd played cards, put a movie on, sat down to a wizard's board game that left them all shouting with laughter.

All in all, it was one of the laziest, most fun afternoons she'd had in ages. If Fred had been there she'd have had to ask herself if she'd died and gone to heaven. Plates magically taken care of and the evening now nearing an end, Rebecca yawned again.

"You can head up, if you want." Remus offered.

Rebecca snorted, "Head up? I haven't been gone long enough to forget that my room's down the hall."

Sirius threw his arm around Harry's shoulder, "Go on then."

Harry grinned, "Thought you'd want to sleep in a room with a better view."

Rebecca looked between all three men, confused a moment. "The top? What's going on?"

Harry shrugged, "Maybe you should go look." Rebecca stood up and walked to the hall. "Good night!" They called, Sirius sending warnings about illicit activities that were silenced with the sounds of Remus covering his husband's mouth with either a pillow or a hand. Rebecca had gone far enough down the hall that she couldn't quite tell the difference, but with how her mind was racing, she didn't think she could have even if she'd been in the doorway watching.

The door to the spiral staircase was wide open, a telltale sign that someone had recently gone up it. Peering up the middle, Rebecca saw a smiling face disappear one second too late. "Fred?"

"Who?" He called back down, not showing himself again.

Rebecca hurried up the stairs, a smile reaching from ear to ear. Pausing at the entrance to the room with a wall of windows, she paused at the sight of a bed--Her bed from her room downstairs, now in the middle of the floor. Fred was sitting on the edge of the bed with his suit wrinkled and the tie loosened. "Hey, stranger." Rebecca rushed across the room, putting her arms around him and pushing him back so that she was buried in his side on the bed. "Woah there!" He laughed.

"How was the shop? Busy with everyone doing their school shopping? How's George? Ced?"

Fred bent down and kissed her, silencing her questions. "Everything's well and fine, just as they were yesterday. How are you?"

Rebecca sighed, "Harry told you everything, right?"

Fred frowned, "You never mentioned that they'd continued. I would have listened, I would have tried to help."

Rebecca laid her hand on his chest, feeling the warmth he radiated even through his shirt. "I know."

Fred reached up and collected her hand, entwining his fingers through hers. "Why then? Why did I only just hear about this through Harry?"

Rebecca was silent a long moment, knowing he'd think her reason was ridiculous. "Do we have to?"

Fred surveyed her face, "'Course not. I'm not going to _make_ you tell me right now. But-" He turned on his side and scooted up the bed so his legs were on it too, pulling her up next to him effortlessly. "You need to know that I need to know, for the future. I can't just-I can't walk about, toitering in the shop and owling you and-" He shook his head once, silencing his rambling. "While you're at school, I have to know."

Rebecca nodded, closing her eyes and resting her head against his arm. "I wanted it to seem normal, with us, for a while. That's all." Fred's head went back, a hearty laugh leaving him that left her feeling very embarrassed, like she'd said something wrong. "I don't see how that's funny."

"Normal?" He had to wipe a tear from his cheek, collecting himself slowly. "Normal? Us? Love, we've been anything but normal from the very start."

"What do you mean?"

He stared into her eyes, a seriousness taking his tone but not taking the happiness from his face. "Rebecca, look at us. You started off as a rumour--I literally told George that you were Harry Potter's twin as a joke when you first arrived. You literally walked into our lives, not needing to mention from what you'd been walking from. You are the most beautiful," He pecked her forehead. "Kind," Peck. "Smart," Peck. She couldn't help but smile. "Mental person in the world. None of that's normal."

It was Rebecca's turn to laugh. She put her elbow under her head and raised an eyebrow. "Save the rest of that, how am I mental?"

Fred gestured to himself, "You're all those things and so much more, yet you've picked a school-abandoning, N.E.W.T.-less, prank maker. Sounds mental to me."

Rebecca's face lost all of its humour and a fervor poured out of her. "Don't say that!" She lifted herself higher so that she was looking down at him to where he was gazing up at her. "You're not-That's not all that you are!" She poked a finger against his chest, tapping it as she listed traits. "You helped the younger students just as much as I did last year. You may not have finished school, but you were bloody brilliant while you were there. You're not a prank maker, you're a prank _master_. We have literally created things that no one else could have imagined. You have a bloody tributorial swamp!"

Fred grabbed her wrists, pulling her down so that she fell against his chest and her face was inches from his. "Careful, love."

"Don't degrade yourself." She swung a leg over his so that she lay on top of him entirely. "And I didn't choose you."

"No? This sort of seems like you did." He smirked at how they were lying.

"'Choose' makes it seem like there was a choice involved. I don't think there was."

Fred winced, "What could there have been? Making me sound like a pedo."

Rebecca bent down and kissed his collar bone, slowly making her way up his neck. A gasped slightly as her teeth grazed against him. "I think we were meant to be." She pulled her arms from his grip and placed them on either side of his head, her hair hanging down and her glasses sliding down her nose the way he found so endearingly attractive. "Cheesy as it is, I can't imagine anyone else."

Fred groaned, putting his hands against her back and rolling over so that he was on top of her. He put his legs on either side of hers, keeping his weight on the bed and putting his elbows next to her head. "You were made for me?" He whispered, kissing the spot beneath her ear slowly. She nodded, her hands finding their way under the untucked bottom of his shirt to feel his skin without barrier. He pulled back slightly, smirking before speaking once more. "No," She opened her eyes, meeting his hazily. "I was made for you."

*******************************************

"That was big of you." Remus offered as he and Sirius tucked him in like they had every night Harry'd been with them. "Inviting him over."

Harry scowled, "I know."

Sirius chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair. "It was very kind of you, too."

"I knew it was what would make her happiest." Harry's voice betrayed his sadness, after all, he had a lot to be sad about. Fred had known hissister longer than he had. How buggered was that? And now, now at least he'd have her to himself at school- _"What is wrong with you?!"_

Remus gave him a knowing look and patted Sirius' shoulder, nodding his head towards the door. Sirius made like he was going to argue, but decided against it. Something in Remus' face told him that wouldn't be wise. "Secrets don't make friends, Remus."

Remus shook his head at the worry that flitted across Harry's face. "He's just playing, you know he is." Remus sat where Sirius had been and pulled Harry's blankets higher. "I tend to know when someone is...internally turmoiled." Harry raised an eyebrow at the word. "I know what it's like to feel like the second choice."

Harry sighed, "It's not that obvious, is it?"

Remush chuckled, "No, you're quite good at hiding. Wouldn't kill you to show her how sometime, though." Harry told him that not only had he, but so had all of their friends. Remus shrugged and continued. "I just want you to keep in mind that this will be a hard year for you all. From what I've heard, she and the Weasleys were inseparable."

Harry nodded, despite the presence at Hogwarts of many Weasleys, Remus was talking about Fred and George. "I know. That's the worst part. I know that and I still get..."

"Jealous? Might as well admit it. It's hard, but doable. I was you, you know. Your father and Sirius...Connected at the bloody hip." A sadness visibly covered Remus as he remembered. "I'd do anything to take that back and be the f-three of us again."

Harry's nose crinkled at the word. "Jealous."

"Good on you." Remus gave him a warm smile. "But keep in mind that as jealous you are, she will feel worse."

Harry nodded, thanking Remus for staying. "I wish summer never had to end. These last few weeks with you two." Harry rolled his eyes and wiped his face, feeling the tears forming at the thought of having to leave the greatest, happiest home he'd ever been in. "They've been the best."

Remus laughed a Sirius-worthy laugh, hugging Harry tightly. "Don't miss what you still have. I've got to go, who knows what he's gotten into unattended." Remus stopped at the door and turned the light off. "Good night, Harry. Sleep well."

Harry lifted his head off the pillow, deciding to do something he'd never done before for an adult. "Is Sirius out there?"

Sirius lifted himself off the floor down the hall with a groan, appearing next to Remus a second later. "Oh yeah, nearly died of boredom, but I'm here."

"I just-" Harry steeled himself, his stomach so heavy that he felt like it was pulling him deeper into the bed. "I love you both."

Remus' hand had been against Sirius' back, but at Harry's words it tightened immediately. Sirius grinned, his heart soaring. "We love you too."

"Yes, we love you too." Remus echoed, knowing one of the memories he would be adding to his Patronus bank. "But you really do have to go to sleep, Diagon Alley tomorrow."

Sirius closed the door and danced in the hallway, Remus pulling him down the hall as he joined in his celebrations.

*******************************************

Fred's shirt had been removed in their snogging, lying on the floor next to the bed on top of hers. Her back was against his chest, his fingers brushing against the strap of her bra in a rhythmic, soothing cadence. Rebecca had her eyes closed and was working on a map in her mind: A map of every way her body fit into his.

He had his knees bent, laying exactly against the bottom of her thighs. Her back curved up along his stomach, his head held up by his other arm so that his head was lifted above hers.

While she was focusing on how he felt against her, he was making note of every detail he could: The slight upturn of her nose at the end. The way the scar around her eye had faded smooth along its barriers, save one small disturbance at the end. The way her jaw ended and tapered into her neck, perfectly kissable.

Fred brought his face closer to her, holding his lips on that spot he'd been focusing on until she smiled and looked back at him. "You're so beautiful." He loved the blush that rose on her cheeks slowly, finding the effect he had on her almost intoxicating.

She moved so that she was facing him, holding her hand to his chest like she tended to do. "I love you."

Fred nodded, pulling a blanket up over the two of them before holding a hand up to her glasses. She raised an eyebrow as he slid them off her face, folding them and putting them on the table next to his bed where he picked his wand up. The lamp turned off across the room and he closed the door before putting his wand back and facing her again. "I love you, too."

Rebecca's heart seemed to hum at the words, a warmth spreading across her body. Fred brushed the hair back, continuing to let his thumb trace of her cheek as she closed her eyes again. "Sleep well, love."

Her eyes opened after a moment, just to look at him again. He cracked open one eye, catching her. "A little hard to sleep with your eyes open."

She smiled before wincing, "I might wake you up, talking or moving." Fred shushed her and pulled her closer, telling her to just try. "You'll wake me up before you go?"

Fred sighed, letting his eyes stay closed. "Rebecca."

"Okay, going to sleep."

*******************************************

<3


	2. PRE--97

**When the sun first made its** appearance over the London skyline and, consequently, into their room, Fred took a pillow from behind them and tossed it to the foot of the bed, creating a higher wall between it and Rebecca so that she could sleep on. Pulling himself up against the headboard, he found that he couldn't keep his hands to himself.

_"She's so damn busy when she's awake, never still, never quiet."_ Fred thought as he let a hand brush against her face. Beside her cheek, across her forehead, down the trace of her eyebrow, his fingers followed the alabaster smoothness of her. She'd slept through the night, not stirring once. A smile crossed her face and Fred froze.

"What're you doing?" She whispered, her eyes still closed.

"Nothing!" Fred's hand shot back to himself and she opened her eyes.

"Liar." Rebecca sat up next to him, laughing at the state of their dress. "Bloody good thing no one woke us up."

Fred glanced down at her, grinning. "Why? You don't wander about home in your undergarments?" He turned to the side slightly so that she fell towards him, her head resting against the inside of his shoulder. "You slept alright, didn't you?"

It was her turn to grin, "Deeply."

Fred nodded once, "Excellent."

They sat quietly, Fred sneaking his arm up behind her until his arm rested around her neck.

*******************************************

"This isn't Diagon Alley." Ron remarked, stepping out of the Leaky Cauldron a week later. "Look, even Ollivander's is closed!"

Ginny caught Rebecca's eye, motioning back towards Molly who was standing behind Harry. "Where to first?" Rebecca asked, knowing talking about her perfectly formulated plan would distract Molly from the solemn mood of the shopping district.

"Flourish and Blotts first." Molly declared, ushering them down the empty street quickly. "Then, as I'm sure I will dearly pay without allowing, a brief, brief stop at Fred and George's, then straight home."

They talked to each other in anticipation, Rebecca remarking that they'd gotten even more put out on the shelves now. Inside the bookstore, Molly sent the three sixth years off to get their own while she helped Ginny find the two new books they didn't have. Rebecca looked over her O.W.L.s score sheet, thinking about the classes she was taking this year in N.E.W.T. preparation.

_"Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration...Sure am glad E's are allowed to continue with Magical Creatures..."_ She picked up the books carefully, checking her list to make sure she wasn't picking one that Fred had already given her. Rebecca stopped in front of the stack of Potions books, feeling strangely certain that Harry needed one.

He noticed how she was looking at them, the fact that she kept tapping on two of them. "Rebecca?"

She shook her head, losing the feeling. She grabbed one book, wincing as he noticed what subject it was for. "Sorry."

Harry shook his head, "Don't be. There'll be something else for me." Even he heard the false tones in his voice. "Got your books?" She nodded. "Good, me too. I don't see why you're taking extra courses. You've spent too much time with Hermione, I guess."

Rebecca laughed, "I'm making sure my options are open! Besides, I'm not taking a single class I'm not interested in."

He grimaced, "You're such a nerd."

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had miraculously been spared any ill effects of Diagon Alley's change in business patterns. The shop was busy as ever and their success brought a happiness to Molly that seemed to brighten her right up. Fred kissed Rebecca's cheek as he met them at the entrance, pointing down the newly filled shelves for Ron, Harry, and Ginny. Molly came next, wrapping her arms around Fred before going off to find George.

"Good shopping?" Fred asked, putting his arm around her shoulder and taking a lap around the store. She nodded, happy to let him talk awhile. "It feels different without you here every day." He grinned cheekily, "Though I have taken a trick from you and made sure to help the littler ones."

"Littler ones?" She laughed, shaking her head. "I miss it too."

Fred heard the sadness in her voice and kicked himself, realising that was exactly what he shouldn't have said: Missing her at the shop. "You'll owl as soon as you get the Hogsmeade weekends, right"

She took the distraction, hoping he wasn't blaming himself and regretting that she'd been so clear with how much she'd miss them. "Yes, though..." Fred nodded for her to continue. "I-I don't know if it's smart to floo back to work."

Fred sighed in relief. "I agree. That's why I thought I'd just apparate to you and we'd stick around Hogsmeade." Fred looked outside, pausing as they found themselves back at the front. "It's different out there, and not in a good way."

Rebecca pulled him closer, both of them staring out at the empty street a long time. When Ron appeared behind them, it was only to tell Rebecca that they were stepping outside as Molly had run into one of the other mums. "Who knows how long we'll have to wait now." Ron complained.

Fred stepped away from her, kissing her once more before excusing himself to make sure the counter was running smoothly. Harry appeared with Hermione beside him, motioning for her to come with them even though he could tell that she just wanted to poke around the store and find something to do. "It'll be a nice walk, at least."

Rebecca conceded without much argument, excited to see Hermione. They trodded down the steps and towards the door, Rebecca rolling her eyes at the sight of Lavender camped out by the love potions. "Course that's where she bloody is." She muttered to Hermione.

"Bye Ron!" Lavender cooed, narrowing her eyes slightly at Hermione before looking away entirely as Rebecca stepped into her sight.

Harry and Ron were ahead of the girls, both of them slowing down to talk without them hearing. "What the hell was that?" Rebecca demanded, gesturing over her shoulder to the shop. "What's got her knickers wonky?"

Hermione stared at her a moment, neither girl watching as Harry and Ron led them into Ollivander's. "Normally, I'd say something about your semantics. But this time? I agree entirely."

Rebecca nodded once proudly. "I knew this would happen one day, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oops, now it's gone."

Ron looked over his shoulder shushing them before pointing out the broken window to the sight he and Harry were talking about. "Looks like Draco and Mummy don't want to be followed."

Rebecca tried to argue against it, tried to explain that they might not be up to anything nefarious, but all her points fell moot when she couldn't help but agree that they were being shifty. Harry stepped out of the shop, approaching the road they'd turned down carefully.

"Maybe she's right..." Ron whispered, reaching out for Harry's shoulder. Harry shrugged him off and hurried on, walking just fast enough so that Draco never went fully out of his sight but if the Slytherin boy were to turn around, he could stop and keep all four of them from detection.

They alley ways they'd rushed down opened into a side street to Diagon Alley, a shop ahead that Draco and his mother ducked into. Harry pulled them along, pointing up at the light that illuminated the room above Borgin and Burke's.

Rebecca sighed, gesturing to the small distance the roof of the building adjacent to Borgin and Burke's was to the stairs. Before there was time to argue, all four of them were laying on their stomachs on the shingles and watching as a long line of dark-robed wizards and witches entered the store.

Harry pulled himself up higher, his head going back under the lip less than a second before the man who suddenly appeared turned around. Rebecca knew the man's profile, she'd studied it intensely. After Sirius had accidently mentioned something earlier in the summer about a man named 'Greyback'--Fenrir Greyback, she'd later learned--being the werewolf that had attacked Remus when he was a small child, Rebecca learnt all she could on the man, including his last sighted and what he'd looked like.

"That's the monster that attacked Rems." She whispered to Harry, having to see someone else as angry as she was before she did something really stupid. Harry realised this and grabbed her arm, squeezing it. It hurt, but it hurt enough to distract her until it was safe to assume he'd turned back.

When the four of them lifted their heads back over the roof, the shades were drawn and their view eliminated.

*******************************************

"Harry? You have company!" Sirius shouted up the stairs to where Remus and Harry were packing his trunk the night before they were heading to King's Cross, the memory of seeing Greyback still fresh in his mind from days before. Harry could have done the packing himself. He had done it since school had started, save any assistance Rebecca had offered when she was able, but Remus insisted. It was growing more and more clear that he was a little crazy about order.

"No! You can't put that there! The books have to go in the bottom, size order so you don't crease the covers!" Harry had retreated to the edge of his bed where he watched happily--Being pampered like this felt nice, strange but nice. "You go on and see who it is, I'll finish up here."

Harry left the room quickly, curious as to who was there. It wasn't Rebecca, she'd never leave the Burrow on their last night home. Granted he was unaware of it, as at the exact time Harry was walking down the stairs Fred appeared in her window on a broom, he was mostly correct.

"Professor?" Harry asked shocked. Dumbledore was in their front hall, Sirius looking over the head master's blackened hand.

"The tale is thrilling, if I say so myself." Dumbledore turned his gaze away from Sirius to Harry. "But now is not the time to tell it."

Remus plodded down the stairs, waving to Dumbledore. "Everything okay?"

Dumbledore nodded and raised his arm, "Shortly, gentlemen." Remus nodded, looking to Sirius who only shrugged. "Take my arm, Harry." Harry glanced at his now raised arm before turning to Sirius and Remus unsurely. "Do as I say." Dumbledore said kindly, leaving his arm where it was in the air.

Harry rest his hand on top of Dumbledore's and felt himself slip into the tube-like, vacuum-resembling feeling apparating. They stumbled to the ground in a forest near a lake, shoes abandoned beside them. "Where are we?" Harry asked, hardly stomaching the nausea that rolled through him.

"Successful apparation! Most people vomit, particularly when young." Dumbledore raised his unmarked hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. A broom paused over the lake before turning towards them, hushed conversation just barely reaching their ears.

"Rebecc-"

"No I didn't do anything yet! Bloody fucking hell if I'm being expelled...Though," She glanced at Fred who was avoiding Harry's accusatory gaze, unaware that she was perfectly audible over the still water and the silence of the night. "I guess I'd have more time to work in the shop."

Dumbledore chuckled as Fred and Rebecca came to a halt at the water's edge, Fred lowering the broom to the ground and standing on the rocky shore. "No one is being expelled, not today anyway." Dumbledore told Fred that they would be back shortly, not offering any explanation beyond that. "If you please, I would hate to cut short any farewells left to happen."

Rebecca's cheeks burnt as she took Dumbledore's side, ignoring the look Harry was giving her. Her eyes widened momentarily at the sight of Dumbledore's blackened hand, but she grabbed it without question. Dumbledore apparated all three of them, something Rebecca hadn't even known was possible.

Harry bent over as their feet landed, holding a hand against his mouth. Rebecca was beside him in seconds, patting his back. Dumbledore turned around and walked off in the direction behind him. Harry stood up, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine, better now." He eyed Rebecca warily. "What were you doing out?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Tradition?" Harry stared at her, both of them hurrying to follow Dumbledore. "We've been doing this thing, if you must know." She tried to sound put off by his prying, but in reality, she really just wanted whatever they were doing to finish up so that she could get back. "We go on a little adventure every year before school starts. First it was to end on a high note, then it was to distract Fred. He does get rather homesick. But then..." She smiled, "Now it's tradition."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Whatever, romantic twit."

"How is 'romantic' and insult!"

Dumbledore gave them both a look, silencing their bickering. "Welcome to the charming village of Budleigh Babberton. I would imagine by now, you're both wondering why I brought you here. Would I be correct?"

"Yes, quite." Rebecca answered as they stopped in front of a house. She really just wanted to get back to the lake, a thought that left her internally laughing. _"Me? Itching to get back to water?"_

"After all these years sir, I've learnt to go with it." Harry offered, peering up at the dark house.

Dumbledore froze on the walk, the door knocked off its hinges and damage visible inside. "Wands out."

Rebecca had hers in hand already and ignored the look Harry gave her. "What? You never know."

Dumbledore silenced them and illuminated his wand, stepping into the house. Rebecca was behind Harry, which suited her fine. Considering she'd been planning a quiet, home-based exploration for the night, she was in her pajamas. If there were Death Eaters inside, or other death-bringing events, at least she'd be under Harry and he'd cover her outfit comprised of old shorts barely help up by a string and Fred's shirt.

Once further inside, the house was in even bigger shambles than she'd thought. Claw marks grooved into the walls, furniture overturned, picture frames skewed.

"Horace?" Dumbledore whispered.

Harry froze in the doorway from the entryway to what had once been a living room, staring down at the copy of the Prophet. Rebecca glanced down at it before prodding him forward, moving him out of his stupor. The Prophet had, at last, started reporting Voldemort's return. However, as always, they reported improperly. According to them, the Potter children were the root of He Who Shall Not Be Named's return.

"Ignore it." Rebecca whispered, raising her wand higher to look at the damage up the walls. It had taken multiple assurances from Dumbledore for them to light their wands as well. But, the second danger appeared, she knew she would not hesitate. She stepped forward, bending to the floor and inspecting a strange piece of wreckage.

Harry looked up as blots of red dripped onto the paper, a drop landing on his forehead. Rebecca was up in an instant, raising her hand to wipe it off. Dumbledore turned back, holding up one finger for her to wait. The headmaster dabbed his finger in the blood and licked it, pursing his lips and turning to the one piece of furniture left unscathed in the home: A striped armchair.

Dumbledore turned around, glass crunching on his feet as he raised his wand at the chair. Rebecca licked her finger, trying to wipe away the remaining blood. Harry rolled his eyes and tried to pull away, but Rebecca put her wand between her teeth and pulled him down by his collar.

"Merlin's beard!" The chair shouted, startling Rebecca into releasing Harry who straightened his shirt with a scowl. The chair that was now clearly not just a chair, transfigured into a chair-like man. "There's no need to disfigure me, Albus!"

Dumbledore chuckled, "You make a very convincing armchair, Horace. Very convincing indeed."

"It's all in the upholstery. The stuffing? I come by it naturally." The man flung his legs out, then his arms, the room filling with the sounds of springs and tearing fabric as he turned himself back. "What gave me away?"

Dumbledore raised his wand over his shoulder, pointing towards the ceiling. "Dragon's blood."

Rebecca turned to Harry in awe, "You had Dragon's blood on you!"

Harry couldn't help but smile at her excitement, even though he was hoping the man had been unable to see how she'd wiped him off.

"Harry, Rebecca," Dumbledore turned to the side, waving to the man in his pajamas in front of him. "I'd like you to meet an old friend and colleague of mine--Horace Slughorn." Rebecca looked at him carefully as Dumbledore continued. "Horace, you know who they are."

"Yes, yes." Horace couldn't seem to decide who he wanted to look at more, she or Harry. "Harry and Rebecca Potter." Horace chuckled and walked to the front door, closing and locking it.

"What's with all the theatrics, Horace? You weren't, by any chance, waiting for someone else were you?"

"Someone else? I'm sure I don't know what you mean?" Horace paused in front of Dumbledore, dropping the lie immediately. "Alright, the Death Eaters have been trying to recruit me for over a year. Do you know what that's like?" Horace walked to the window, peeking out of it carefully before drawing the curtain closed. "You can only say no so many times to these people; I never stay anywhere more than a week. The muggles who own this place are in the Canary Islands!"

Harry nudged Rebecca's shoulder, "At least you're not the only person in their pajamas now."

Rebecca nodded, not realising that he was teasing her.

"I think we should put it back in order for them, don't you?" Dumbledore waved his wand in a slow, oblong shape in front of him. The glass on the floor tinkled instantly, scuttling across the floor to its place in the broken windows, broken clock fronts, broken frames and such. The chandelier raised from the ground, the lights turning on as the house became a house once more. Harry and Rebecca moved from side to side, trying their best to stay out of the flying belongings the best they could.

It was Rebecca's turn to nudge Harry, pointing down to his shoe that rest on one of the final bejeweled hangings for the chandelier. Harry raised his foot and watched as the last remnant of the damage was returned.

"That was fun." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Do you mind if I use the loo?"

"No, of course." Horace gestured to a side hall. "Don't think I don't know why you're here, Albus. The answer's still no. Absolutely and unequivocally no."

Rebecca repeated the phrase to herself, "Absolutely and unequivocally no.' That's a good one." Harry and Rebecca stood side by side, returning Horace's stare.

"You're very like your father. Both of you." Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "In the best way, of course. Except for your eyes, you have-"

"Our mother's eyes. Yeah." Harry finished. Rebecca jabbed him with her elbow, warning him not to be rude.

"Lily. Lovely Lily. She was exceedingly bright, your mother. Even more impressive when one considers she was muggle-born."

Rebecca instantly regretted scolding Harry. If the man was going to talk so callously, Harry could use all the tone he wanted. "One of our best friends is muggle-born. Best in our year, perhaps all of Hogwarts history." Rebecca heard the edge in her voice and thought it perfectly warranted, particularly when she remembered just how hard Hermione had worked to get there.

"Please don't think I'm prejudiced. No, no, no. Your mother was one of my absolute favourites. Look, there she is. Right at the front." Horace pointed to the array of magic pictures on the bureau to their right, Rebecca stepping forward to see. It was easy to hear about their father, Sirius and Remus brought him up often. Their mother? That was harder. There was a sadness that welled up in their godfathers when Lily was brought up, a sadness that ran so deeply in the two men that Harry and Rebecca went out of their way to make sure she wasn't ever brought up, no matter how badly they wanted to know more about her.

But, alas, right in front of them, a picture of a collection of smiling students around a younger Horace. "All mine. Ex-students, I mean." Horace went over a few of his better-off students: Editor in Chief of the Daily Prophet, a Holyhead Harpies player.

Harry reached forward and plucked the picture with their mother up, holding it closer to his face. Rebecca paled and picked up a different photo, a boy that looked disturbingly similar to Sirius at Horace's side. "Ah, yes. Regulus Black. You, of course, know his older brother. I do believe Dumbledore mentioned something about semi-permanent housing with he and his partner for one of you." They didn't answer the unstated question, instead they both turned their attention to the youngest Black who sneered up at them, seemingly taunting them both with the questions still dancing around their heads from their talk two weeks before.

"I taught the whole Black family, except for Sirius." Horace continued, seeming to enjoy the sound of his voice because both Potters were clearly not listening. "It's a shame. Talented boy. I got Regulus when he came along, but I'd have liked the set."

Dumbledore exited the bathroom, calling for Horace. "Do you mind if I take this?" he held up a muggle magazine, giving Harry and Rebecca a moment to converse quietly. They replaced the pictures and walked to Dumbledore, their discussion not coming to any viable solutions. Harry wanted to ask Dumbledore to kidnap Horace so they could question him. Rebecca did not.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Horace asked, a hint of fear in his voice. Rebecca and Harry fell silent, watching the exchange carefully.

"I think I know a lost cause when I see one. Regrettable. I would have considered it a great personal triumph had you consented to return to Hogwarts. Oh, well. You're like my friends here, one of a kind."

"Does he know there's literally two of us?" Rebecca whispered, eliciting a laugh out of Harry that he covered with a cough.

"Bye-bye, Horace." Dumbledore left the room with a graceful, and dismissive, flourish of his robes. Rebecca and Harry nodded their head in a farewell, trailing after Dumbledore to get back to what they had been doing before hand. The crescent moon was only slightly higher in the sky, leaving Rebecca hopeful that she and Fred would still have some time before he would insist she get back to bed.

Rebecca went to ask a question about why exactly they'd come, but Dumbledore motioned for her to wait. Halfway down the walk, she understood why. Horace threw the door open, his voice calling out to them. "Alright, I'll do it. But I want Professor Merrythought's old office, not the water closet I had before. And I expect a raise!" He raised his hand for dramatic flair, a touch that caused Harry to roll his eyes. "These are mad times we live in. Mad!"

Dumbledore bowed his head to Harry and Rebecca, "They are indeed."

"Sir," Rebecca began as they walked back to the point of Budleigh Babberton they'd apparated in to. "What exactly was all that about?"

"You are both talented, famous, and powerful. Everything Horace values. Professor Slughorn is going to try and collect you, especially the two of you."

"Yes," Harry glowered, "We already heard about his feelings on 'sets.'"

Dumbledore nodded, "You would be his crowning jewels. That's why he's returning to Hogwarts. And it's crucial he should return." Dumbledore glanced up at the sky, the stars shining and the moon beaming. "I fear I may have stolen a wondrous night from you."

"It's alright," Rebecca raised her arm. "The night's young."

"Yes, it is. However, I fear a spot of trouble will have arisen. You'll not be returning to Grimmauld Place, Harry."

Harry looked around confused. "What about Sirius and Remus? My trunk?"

"All are waiting for you. Unfortunately, they've been called away on business. The Burrow will have to suffice."

Rebecca's eyes widened, "No!"

Dumbledore chuckled and grabbed their arms. Rebecca gasped as they appeared outside the Burrow, both of them inside one of the ponds around the leaning house. Harry grabbed her arm, pulling her out of it quickly. It had only gone up to his waist, but for her it was higher and shocking, to say the least. "It's alright, it's okay." Harry said in a rush, shivering in the fall night's air. Rebecca nodded, the sudden appearance of water leaving her heart racing and making her feel like she wasn't quite catching her breath. Of all the places to have arrived in, in water was certainly not in her top one hundred.

They walked over the hill, stepping out of the tall grass as they approached the house with all its lights on. "This is so bad." Rebecca whispered, pulling her shirt away from her to distance herself from the cold wetness of it.

Harry beamed, catching sight of movement in the house. His eyes paused on Ginny in a window, a book in her hand that she was alternating between reading and glancing outside. Seeing the two of them approach the house, she slammed the book shut and ran down the stairs.

"He couldn't have stayed to explain, oh no..." Harry picked up on the muttering leaving Rebecca's mouth, grinning.

"It's the last night before school, how bad can this be?"

Rebecca glared up at him, "I'll have you know I had quite an evening planned." Harry jumped forward and opened the door before he had to hear any more.

"You two!" Molly shouted, Fred pulled behind her by his ear. He winked at Rebecca before wincing. Ginny was the first Weasley to breach the distance between them, hugging Harry before moving to Rebecca.

"I tried to cover, but she's too damn good."

Rebecca patted her back, smiling. "Eh, good thing Harry's here then." All the children who resided at the Burrow knew the gentler, more easy-going mood Molly took when Harry was present.

"Bed empty! The night before school? And this one, wandering about in the dark on a broom!" Molly yanked on Fred's ear harder.

"Ow! Unhand me woman!" Fred cried out, standing straight when Molly finally did release him. He rubbed at his ear childishly, shaking his head. "I told you, I was looking for my shoe!"

Molly held a hand to her brow, Hermione stepping out from behind her and hugging them both. "What're you doing here?" Rebecca asked quickly, Ron pulling Harry away. Hermione shook her head, telling her that they'd talk later.

"It was Dumbledore." Harry explained, trying to answer the questions that poured out of them all. "He didn't write?"

Molly sighed, "That man. What would we do without him though?" She narrowed her eyes at Rebecca, "Still no explanation from you, young lady!"

Rebecca wracked her mind, trying to come up with something, anything. "I...lost...my shoe?"

Molly put her hands on her hips, "You did not just give me the exact same excuse."

"I'm feeling pressured!" Rebecca shouted, launching herself at Molly before hugging her. "You're not that cross, are you? Knowing we were just trying to have a little fun like every year-"

"Every year?!"

Fred slapped his hand against his forehead before stepping forward and covering Rebecca's mouth. "Look at her mum, cold and wet. Wet? Must have left her mind out there. I'll bring her up to bed."

Molly sighed, "Dry pajamas, don't go catching your death." Harry was quickly left to field the rest of their questions.

Fred climbed the stairs before grinning cheekily. "You may not fib, but you do know how to smooch your way out."

"'Smooch my way out,' that sounds horrid." She giggled, grabbing pajamas from her drawer. Fred watched as she popped down the hall to the bathroom, slipping what he and George had been working on into her trunk while she was gone.

"It's not, it's a compliment!" Fred jumped on her bed, spreading himself out on it before raising his head a grinning cheekily. "I thought you'd show me how you do it."

Rebecca laughed before jumping onto the bed and kissing him.

*******************************************

George had been warned not to wait up for him, Fred had said that he might end up sleeping there, but George was worried. The Prophet's list of missing witches and wizards was growing, and they only announced the pure-blooded people. Muggle-borns and half-bloods went missing two-up to-three times more.

"Let's go." Cedric sighed, sitting up from where he had dozed off on their bed next to him. Cedric slept more nights than not in the flat above the shop.

"Where? Home or to sleep?"

Cedric smiled kindly, kissing George. "Where do you want to go?"

George bit his lip, already knowing he needed to make sure all was well at the Burrow. Cedric pulled on a jumper and tossed one to George, making sure he had it on before asking if he was okay to apparate. George huffed angrily, not able to focus well enough. "It's okay." Cedric said softly, wrapping his hands around George's. "I've got it then."

A pull and a pop later, the boys were in the kitchen bustling with activity. "Boys!" Molly shouted, hugging them both tightly. "Hungry?"

Cedric nodded, always hungry in one way or another and well acquainted with Molly's cooking. George stepped away from Cedric, looking around the room and confused to find Harry sitting at the table between Ron and Hermione. "Is Fred here?"

Molly sighed, "Yes, upstairs. I expect he'll be spending the night."

George sighed in relief and closed his eyes a moment. His heart slowed, his muscles unclenched, and, when he opened his eyes, he found himself able to smile again. "I could eat."

Hermione knew that she wouldn't see Rebecca again that night, not when she and Fred's annual outing had been cancelled, so she sat around the table. Ron filled Harry in on what had happened, the attack in London that called Remus and Sirius to the front and led Moody to insist she spend the night before school at the Burrow.

"My parents," Hermione tried to explain. "They weren't even sure I'd be going at all this year."

Harry scoffed, making sure neither Arthur nor Molly could hear them talking. Just like always, the adults got finicky when they were discussing 'grown up matters.' "It's Hogwarts! There's no where safer."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, you know." Harry shook his head. "Some people think Dumbledore's gotten a bit old."

Harry rolled his eyes, "How old is he?"

Ron looked between them seriously. "100? 150 maybe?"

Ginny walked by and took a seat next to Hermione, "Really? Thought he'd passed 200."

That was it, her remark sent all four of them laughing away the poor reasons they were together again and left them hopeful for the year ahead. Hermione reached into her pocket, pulling out two envelopes. One labelled for Harry, one for Rebecca. "I know it's a little late, but with birthdays postponed this year and all..."

Harry took his with a grateful, albeit sad, smile. Their birthday had passed days earlier on the first night of the string of Death Eater attacks around muggle London. Owls had been exchanged and hugs had been passed, but everything was tainted with worry that Harry hoped would dissipate once at school.

"Go on then," Hermione prodded. "I want to know how great I've done."

Ron sniggered, "Ever the humblest."

Harry slid his finger under the envelope's lip, opening it. Coupons fell out. "Homework help?" Harry read confused.

Hermione sat back, "Yes. 'Help.'"

"Oh!" Harry gasped. "You mean you'll-"

"HELP." Hermione finished, not allowing her deceit to be actualised with words. This made them all laugh again, harder.

Upstairs, Rebecca was firmly tucked into Fred's side where they were simply enjoying each other's company. Fred was toying with her hair, picking strands and following them through the curls or trying to pick one bit out of the inky black mass from the other. She sighed, snuggling closer and fighting to keep her eyes open. "Go to sleep," Fred kissed her forehead. "I'll be here in the morning."

Rebecca shook her head, "We're not leaving until after-"

Fred kissed her lips. "Ced can manage a single opening."

"But-" Fred kissed her again.

She grinned, "I didn't have anything to say that time."

*******************************************

Across the country, in a town far, far in the north of England, the night was periodically lit up by brilliant displays of lightning as the rain poured down in a dready, constant shower.

If you were there, standing out of the rain, of course, you would have found two women in all black walking down the sidewalk. Both had hair somehow darker than the night itself, though one had blonde sections at the front that were pinned to the back in a regal manner. "You can't do this! He can't be trusted!" The one with the manic eyes hissed.

"The Dark Lord trusts him."

"The Dark Lord is mistaken." A child's bike bell ahead made them stop in the alley, facing each other as they avoided being seen. "Cissy, this isn't-"

"This isn't your decision, is it Bellatrix?" Narcissa snapped before heading into the street and knocking on the first door. Peter Pettigrew's face loomed out at them from behind the foggy glass before the door was cracked open and their arrival was announced.

The rat-faced servant led them down the hall into a study where Severus Snape folded his paper and set it on his lap. "Run along, Wormtail." Severus dismissed. When Wormtail delayed his exit, Snape flourished his wand and slammed the door--and the servant--back out into the hall.

"I-I know I ought not to be here." Narcissa explained as she sat in the chair Snape offered, Bellatrix poking around his books and shelves behind her. "The Dark Lord himself forbade me to speak of this-"

"If the Dark Lord has forbidden it, you ought not speak. Put it down, Bella." Snape chided, prompting Bellatrix to put down what she was shaking roughly. "We mustn't touch what isn't ours." Bellatrix did as she was told, though not without cheek. "As it so happens, I'm aware of your situation, Narcissa."

"You?" Bellatrix's incredulousness was clear. "The Dark Lord told you?"

"Your sister doubts me. Understandable. Over the years, I've played my part well. So well I've deceived one of the greatest wizards of all time." Bellatrix snorted, though Snape continued as if she'd stayed silent. "Dumbledore is a great wizard, only a fool would question it."

"I don't doubt you, Severus." Narcissa tried to convey confidence.

Bellatrix paused her walking about the room before storming across it. "You should be proud, Cissy. As should Draco."

Narcissa's sheepish smile took on a false sheen, her voice seeming just a touch to steady, a touch to calm. "He's just a boy." Inside, Narcissa was gagging. _"Just a boy? Just a weakling. What the Dark Lord commands must be done, no matter by whom."_

"I can't change the Dark Lord's mind." If Severus noticed her act, he didn't care. "But, it might be possible for me to help Draco."

Narcissa stood up, slowly stepping her way in front of him. "Severus. Swear to it."

Bellatrix grinned evilly, knowing what would keep Severus on their side and what would appease her sister. "Make the Unbreakable Vow." Severus' mouth opened slightly, the most emotion the man had shown in nearly sixteen years. "It's just empty words. He'll give it his best effort." Bellatrix rounded behind Severus, her head getting closer to his shoulder as she continued. "But when it matters most..." Her chin lay on his shoulder. "He'll just slither back into his hole. She bounced off him, trotting in front of him. "Coward."

Snape glared at her. "Take out your wand." He all but growled. Narciss reached her hand out, holding it under his hand and holding onto his wrist as he did the same above. They jerked their hands so that they were side by side, Bellatrix casting the spell.

"Will you, Severus Snape, watch over Draco Malfoy as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?" Bellatrix asked.

"I will." Snape intoned.

Bellatrix let her head rest against Narcissa's as she stood behind her, still lining their agreement. "And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will."

Bellatrix walked away from them, "And if Draco should fail..." She extender her neck, whispering the last of the words. "Will you yourself carry out the deed the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

"I will." The spell severed, Narcissa and Severus' hands able to be separated again.

*******************************************

Fred found that he couldn't sleep, even with Hermione, Ginny, and Rebecca's even breathing filling the room with a soothing monotony of noise. He still had his arm around Rebecca and he found that everytime the minute changed on Ginny's clock, he was calculating exactly how many much more time they had before she would be off to the train.

_"Five hours, forty-three minutes."_ He sighed, tearing his eyes away from the glowing numbers to look down at her. She hadn't stirred once, though her head had fallen farther onto him as she drifted deeper asleep.

He let his hand find its way to her face, exploring her features like he hadn't many times before. Fingertips brushing across her cheek, sweeping the hair away from her face, he let his head fall against the pillow before glancing across the room again.

_"Five hours, forty-two minutes."_

*******************************************

<3


	3. PRE--98

**"Fred? What is it zat you are doing 'ere?"** A heavily French accented voice rang out as it made its way farther into the girls' room early the next morning, opening blinds and clapping her loudly all the while.

Fred lifted his head off, surprised that he'd fallen asleep at all. His arm untangled itself from the blankets and stretched out off the bed, a yawn so large Rebecca was moved to the side leaving him. Rebecca eyes opened just in time to see the floor racing up to meet her. "I'm sorry!" Fred hissed, scrambling off the side of the bed to grab her.

Rebecca's hand reached up, feeling around for her glasses which she slid on as she sat against the wall. "Could have been worse." She let out a little laugh, patting Fred's hand that had firmly gripped her shoulder. "Bunk beds."

Fleur raised an eyebrow, "Bunk beds?"

Ginny groaned loudly, her dislike of Fleur ever present. "Ze tall beds, von on top ov ze ozer."

Fleur took the ribbing with a level of grace that only made Ginny hate her more. "I am French, not Russian." The proudly-proclaimed French woman left the room with a flourish, glancing at Rebecca on her way out.

"Would it kill you to be nice?" Rebecca sighed, Fred pulling her to her feet. "Really, she's not horrible."

Ginny snorted. "She's 'orrible."

Fred rolled his eyes, hardly having gotten enough sleep to deal with such madness. Rebecca noticed and looked over her shoulder, taking into account the single bed compared to the doubles they were used to sharing. "I thought you were going back to the flat." She said pointedly, cupping a hand to his cheek.

Fred shook his head, kissing her forehead. "What would you do without such an exciting wake up?" They laughed before Fred left the girls to change freely.

Hermione turned around to get her clothes out of her bag and found that, once facing the rest of the room again, Rebecca was already changed and heading out the door. Ginny caught Hermione's eyes, still sitting on her bed. "She's always been a morning person."

Hermione pursed her lips, not believing that that was the only reason the third occupant of the room had gotten ready so quickly.

*******************************************

"Good morning!" Rebecca called out as she stepped onto the bustling first floor. There was a symphony of returned good mornings, the loudest being from Bill. A grin broke out across Rebecca's face and she ran to his side to hug him tightly. "You're a horrible writer, you know that? I swear, I'll send five owls before I get a single response!"

Fleur walked down the hall, passing them with a flirtatious smile. Bill blushed, a strange sight to see the--Rebecca would never tell Fred--toughest looking Weasley turn into a bashful school boy. "I see."

Bill turned to her, shaking his head. "See what?"

Rebecca wiggled her eyebrows, "I'm not the only one 'sending owls.'"

Bill grabbed the back of her head and shoved her backwards into Fred who had appeared in the hall behind them. "Ha ha...shut it."

Fred looked between them curiously before shrugging and kissing her. Bill rolled his eyes and went back into the kitchen. "What was that all about?" Fred kept his arms around her, staring down at her curiously.

Rebecca smirked, "Haven't the foggiest."

*******************************************

"You've got your trunk?"

"Fred, it's in your hand."

Fred looked down, seeing her minimised trunk in it and nodded, "Well that's very smart." He turned back to her. "Wand?"

"Yes."

"Boo-"

"I've got everything!" She laughed and spun around the empty kitchen. "We've got to go!"

Fred sighed, taking her hand in his. "Yes, yes we do." Neither of them moved. She tilted her head and looked up at him, Fred pulling her against him before kissing her. They snogged as long as they dared, knowing that someone could apparate back to see what was taking them so long at any moment.

"Fred?" Rebecca asked as they stepped apart.

"Yes, love?" Fred smiled sweetly at her.

"Can you maybe not owl Dumbledore?" Fred pursed his lips, that having been his plan. He nodded. "Or McGonagall?" He sighed and nodded again, reaching back out for her hand.

"If you insist."

She patted the back of his hand in the kitchen of their home before he apparated them to Platform 9 3/4s, "But you'll owl me, right?"

He focused on a back corner of the platform, near where he had waited for her at the end of last term. "So much Darcy'll get sick of the trip." Rebecca had grown used to the feeling of apparating alongside Fred, hardly ever stumbling and nearly no sickness evident as they reappeared wherever he'd taken them.

"Brilliant." Rebecca gave him a final hug before moving along to Molly and Arthur, hugging and kissing them all goodbye before joining the others near the train's entrance. She walked backwards, Ron holding the hood of her jacket over his shoulder so that she followed them. Rebecca waved madly, blowing kisses with a theatricality that made the Weasleys (and accompanying Delacour) laugh.

George put his arm around Fred's shoulder, sighing. "You okay, mate?"

Fred nodded, not saying anything. As the train blew its whistle and the doors closed, Fred ran forward to where Rebecca's head stuck out of a compartment's window. She reached her hand out, grabbing his as he followed alongside the train. "In your trunk, it's from George and I. A little help from Sirius and Remus, too." Rebecca shook her head, not understanding. "Cause some trouble for all of us who aren't there."

She grinned, curiosity entirely piqued. "I will?"

Fred saw that the platform ended shortly, "You will. I love you."

"I love you, too." Fred let go of her hand, slowing to a walk and then standing still as the train disappeared into the tunnel that led it to the tracks to Scotland.

Molly was behind him when he finally turned around, smiling sadly. "C'mon sweets, let's have a cuppa before you go to the shop. George insists."

*******************************************

"Sorry about that." Rebecca apologised sheepishly to her and Harry's compartment mates: Neville and Luna.

They laughed kindly, even Harry finding their goodbye humorous. "What was that at the end? Something about your trunk."

Rebecca gasped, "Harry! Eavesdropping!"

Luna looked up from her copy of the Quibbler, seemingly not noticing that it was upside down. "You were quite loud."

This sent all four of them into giggles, Luna turning back to her magazine, Neville back to his book, and Rebecca moving to take off her jacket. "You're hot?" Harry asked incredulous, even he thought that the compartment had a chill.

She pulled her head out from the neck, her glasses going with it. "A little. Wasn't quite sure we were going to be on time there a minute. Stressful."

"What took you so long?" Harry shook his head, "On second thought, I'll just be happy you're here."

Rebecca nodded, "Wise choice." Harry turned towards the hall, watching as Ginny walked by with some other fifth year girls. Harry's heart skipped a beat, her red hair seeming even more vibrant against the dark colour of her jumper. She caught his eyes, looking away quickly. Rebecca's eyes flitted from Ginny, now passing out of sight to Harry, now slightly flushed.

In the compartment across the way, Dean locked eyes with Rebecca and pointed at Harry before down the hall where Ginny had gone, clearly asking if something was between the two of them. She shrugged and grinned as Seamus waved next to them. "Glad to see you two get along now." Harry grumbled.

"Funny, don't remember asking your feeling on the topic." Rebecca smiled sweetly before taking the copy of the Quibbler Luna plucked out of her bag.

Neville laughed before falling silent at Harry's glare. "I'm only saying that last year, the year before that, probably the year before that, he wasn't exactly kind to you. You do remember when he knocked your hand so you hit the desk and left half your face bruised?"

"And I'm only saying that what's in the past is in the past. He's being nice _now._ "

Turning to a random page to appear busy, Rebecca pretended to read a moment before closing it and turning to daydream out the window. Harry sighed, grabbing the magazine off her lap and spreading out across the bench, laying down against her so that she couldn't ignore him. "Becksie?" He called sweetly, making it that if he'd upset her, he hadn't meant to.

She snorted, looking down at him as he put his shoulder against her side. "Be quiet until the sweet lady comes."

*******************************************

Luna left the compartment first that had contained two sleeping Potters and a reading Longbottom. The trains was nearly an hour and a half into their journey. Luna brought her bag with her, saying something about how she was going to give out the rest of the issues her dad had given her. Neville trailed after her, offering to help carry them so she didn't have to.

Hardly five minutes after they had left, Hermione and Ron poured into the peaceful and quiet compartment talking loudly. Rebecca sat up, wiping her face before Ron could remark on the drool that had escaped as she'd dozed. "You're wrong, utterly wrong." Hermione crossed her arms as she sat, still talking to Ron.

"Ask them then, they'll agree with me!" Ron pointed to Harry and Rebecca, both of them ripped from the peace that had lulled them into naps and thrown into the middle of whatever they were bickering about now.

"What is it?" Harry asked as he sat up, stretching.

"Hermione thinks its not suspicious that Draco didn't show up for the prefects meeting."

Hermione shook her head, "No! That's not what I said at all!" She huffed, rolling her eyes at Ron. "What I said was that just because he didn't show up doesn't mean he's a Death Eater."

Harry made sure the compartment was closed entirely, leaning forward so that his arms were on his knees as he spoke in a lowered voice. "But what about at Borgin and Burkes?" Harry slapped his leg, "It had to have been a ceremony, an initiation!"

"Stop it." Rebecca said, ignored entirely.

"It's happened, he's one of them." Harry finished.

Ron nodded, "His father is a Death Eater. It only makes sense."

Hermione scoffed, "And your father is an expert on muggle artifacts, hardly explains your marks in Muggle Studies." Ron narrowed his eyes at her, opening his mouth to say something he'd surely regret.

"We saw it with our own eyes!" Harry's tone was nearing desperate.

"No, we don't know what we saw." Rebecca said with an air of finality about her, Hermione nodding in agreement.

Harry looked at Rebecca a long moment before standing and grabbing a bundle off the above-head racks. "I need some air."

Rebecca sighed as he left, sinking down in her seat and rubbing her eyes behind her glasses. "Any sweets dears?" That got her sitting up attentively. Ron sniggered at her before standing and asking for a few things, someone (he entirely suspected George who had uncharacteristically hugged him goodbye on the platform) had snuck a few coins on him.

Rebecca crowded behind him, pinching him. Hermione pulled her book out, rolling her eyes as they pushed each other in front of the trolley lady. "And for-"

"Yes!" Rebecca's eyes widened comically. "I nearly forgot!"

The trolley lady smiled, "I didn't."

"Who is it?" Ron asked like he had every train ride.

"Not you." She cheeked off, taking a gigantic bite of a licorice wand before smiling sweetly at him.

"I bloody well know it's not me." He muttered.

At the other end of the train, the trolley lady found that she had to push her cart through a dense, slowly dissipating black fog. "What is this?" Draco's voice commanded out through the darkness. "Blaise?"

"It's probably just some first years messing around." Pansy whinged. "Come sit down, Draco."

Draco did as she suggested, the trolley lady stopping at the first compartment of their section. "Hogwarts." He spat. "What a pathetic excuse for a school. I'd pitch myself right off the Astronomy Tower if I had to continue another two years."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pansy asked, fear evident in her voice.

Above them, Harry was listening to their every word from the luggage rack, his body tucked under the invisibility cloak.

"Let's just say I don't think you'll see me wasting my time in Charms next year." Draco hated the words, hated the script that he'd been forced to memorise. Blaise snorted. "Amused, Blaise?" Draco shook his head, wishing they understood how serious he was. "We'll see who's laughing in the end."

"As always," The trolley lady laid a chocolate wand on the table in front of Draco. "Will you be sending one back?"

Draco wanted to, he did badly. For all he knew, it could be the last time he ever did. But he'd been told, no, forbidden from any displays of kindness to the Potters. He reached into his suit's pocket, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to follow along he and Rebecca's tradition once more. "Yes, the same."

Pansy glowered in her seat, hating that he refused to tell her and hating the stupid smile that played across his face as he paid her for the sweet to be sent.

*******************************************

Rebecca was laying across the bench entirely, her hands behind her head as she hummed softly. Harry hadn't returned, but she wasn't worried. Probably ran into Nigel somewhere and was getting a run down of everything the now-fourth year had done over the summer.

However, as afternoon turned into evening and the sun set below the Scottish horizon, his failure to return had her concerned. The trolley lady had given her the chocolate wand Draco had sent back to her hours earlier and she toyed with the wrapping distractedly.

"He's fine." Hermione grabbed the chocolate out of her hands and put it on top of her backpack. As the train jerked to a stop, Hermione stood and smoothed her robes out. She'd insisted the three of them change earlier.

Ron nodded, swinging his bag over one shoulder. "Probably one of the first on the platform."

Rebecca followed them out, glancing behind her anxiously.

At the other end of the train, Draco shooed his housemates out, telling them that he was going to check on something. The last one in their train car, Draco closed the door before turning back to where he'd been sitting, to where he'd seen the bag above his head shift without anyone touching it.

"Mummy did before she taught you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter?" Draco waved his wand at where he thought the listener had been, casting the full-body bind jinx. _"Petrificus totalus!"_

Harry's limbs straightened, his body paralysed as he flew off the rack and into the aisle painfully.

Draco yanked the cloak off him, sneering down at him although is body was flooded in relief at the fact that Rebecca hadn't been with him. It was easier for Draco to hate Harry, something that he'd always attributed to the kindnesses Rebecca had shown him over the years. "Right, forgot she was dead before you stopped drooling."

Draco took a breath before kicking Harry in the face, finding a little pleasure in the action of complete domination over his sworn enemy. Harry and Rebecca's reports of seeing Lucius at Voldemort's Ministry appearance had led to a string of Azkaban sentencings and, because of it, Draco had spent less time with a black eye in the time tha the had been home since he could remember. Guilt flashed through him at the thought.

**(Note, I feel like it's important to mention hear that canonically there is ZERO evidence contributing to the narrative that Draco was abused or neglected in any way. However, for the sake of the story and future storylines, I have decided to make it that way.)**

Harry's nose exploded in pain, his body remaining as frozen as it had been. Draco put the cloak back over him. "Enjoy your trip back to London." Draco closed the train's door behind him, ignoring the realisation that Rebecca would have no idea where her brother had gone.

*******************************************

"I forgot my jumper!" Rebecca called, stepping back as Hermione and Ron took seats on a carriage. "I'll meet you at supper!"

Ron crossed his arms, moving to get off but not able to as the carriage pulled away. "You've got the damn thing on!"

Rebecca looked down at herself as she jogged back to the platform, cursing her mistake. She threw the door open, running down the length of the train with her eyes peeled for Harry. Her foot caught on something in the middle of the last train car, something that sent her sprawling.

Her hands dragged on the carpet, her wrists smarting something awful as she crawled back quickly, groping the floor for whatever had tripped her as the train's braked hissed. Rebecca had to get Harry and get off the train or they were both taking a round trip back to London. Her fingers brushed against something familiarly silky and smooth. She yanked the cloak off him, gasping at the sight of his crooked nose.

 _"Finite!"_ Whatever hexes or jinxes that had been put on him were released and he sat up quickly.

"Rebecca!"

"Yeah, yeah, later! The train's leaving any second!" She pulled him up by the sleeve, ignoring his groans in protest as he found every inch of his side was sore from where he'd crashed to the floor. Rebecca shoved him out the door and jumped off behind him, landing on the cement at the exact moment the train began it away-bound return.

"What would I do without you?" Harry hoped she heard that he wasn't joking.

"Be ugly?" She offered, holding her wand up to his face. "I can fix this."

His eyes widened, "Are you sure?"

She nodded, "How hard can it be?" Harry opened his mouth to tell her to stop, that he'd just wait for Madam Pomfrey, but she was too fast. _"Episkey!"_

His nose straightened with a disgusting crunch, blood spurting down his face. "Thanks."

She smiled, "You're welcome. Does it hurt?" He nodded, bunching his shirt up against the blood. "Good. That's what you get for leaving on a mission without telling me."

Harry tried to explain, "I went to listen to Malfoy, you wouldn't-"

"Don't tell me what I would or wouldn't!" She snapped, following the carriage path down the long walk to the castle's gate. "I would have come with you anyway."

Harry walked in quiet a moment. "I'm sorry. I won't go off like that again."

She eyes him carefully before nodding and taking his work for it. "Good, though if you make a habit out of making us late for dinner, you won't have a chance to. Did you learn anything?"

Harry shrugged, "He hates Hogwarts and doesn't expect it to be the same next year."

Rebecca laughed, "With us here? No year is ever the same anyway!"

*******************************************

"About time!" Professor Flitwick scolded as they stepped into the gate. "I've been looking all over for you two." He unfolded the roll of parchment in his hand. "Names?"

Rebecca looked around confused. "Professor, you've known us for five years."

Flitwick glanced up at her sadly, hating the state his school had come to. "No exceptions, I'm sorry."

Rebecca told him her name, making conversation all the while. Draco was ahead of them, his stuff being gone through thoroughly. "Who're all these people?"

Flitwick crossed her and Harry off, ignoring the fact that his shirt had blood down the front of it. "Aurors, for security." The Charms professor waved his wand up at the gate before continuing their conversation with Rebecca about class.

Snape appeared at Draco's side, warning Mr Filch to let him bring in the staff of Lucius'. "Nice face, Potter!"

Rebecca brought her hand to her cheek, holding it against it. "You think?"

Snape grabbed Draco by the shoulder and led him away, scolding him fiercely as he failed to come up with a response.

Harry turned to her, letting her lead the way up to the castle. "How do I look?"

Rebecca glanced at him, wincing at the blood streaked down his face. She took her tie off, realising it would upset Hermione. _"Aguamenti!"_ With it wet, she motioned for him to bend down to her. She sighed as she finished with his face, using the last clean bit of it to get the lines that had trailed down his neck.

"Well?" Harry asked, holding his hand to his cheek like she had.

She laughed, "Perfectly ordinary."

Harry nodded, facing what was ahead of them. "Brilliant."

*******************************************

"Don't worry!" Ron scolded Hermione, taking another large bite from his heaping bowl of dessert. "They'll be here in a minute."

Ginny turned from her brother and looked to Hermione, Hermione's face set in disgust. Hermione stared at Ron a moment before raising the book she had held against her chest and beating him with it on every word. "Will you stop eating?!" She let the book fall onto her lap, sitting up straight. "Your best friends are missing."

"Well, you're here." Ron grumbled, taking another bite. Ron glanced over her shoulder, "Turn around, you lunatic!"

Harry and Rebecca filed into the Great Hall, Rebecca looking over the tables eagerly while Harry looked like he was walking to his execution.

"He's covered in blood again." Ginny shook her head. "Why's one of them always covered in blood?"

"Looks like it's his own this time, at least." Ron took another bite before grabbing two plates and layering them with remnants from the dinner platters around him.

Hermione leaned over the table, hissing. "Where have you been? What's happened to his face?" Hermione froze, staring at Rebecca. "Where. Is. Your. Tie?"

Rebecca picked up a piece of bread from the plate Ron put in front of her, taking a massive bite and pointing to her full mouth as a reason to not answer. Harry rolled his eyes at Rebecca, hating that he had to be the one to answer. "Later."

"Did I miss the song?" Rebecca asked as she looked up at the professors' table, not seeing the Sorting Hat.

Ron nodded, pointing at her with his spoon. "Yeah, Sorting Hat urged us all to be brave and strong in these troubled times. Easy for a bloody hat to say, isn't it?"

Rebecca went back to eating her dinner in an incredibly Ron-like way, only pausing as Dumbledore began to speak because Ginny had taken the bloody tie from Harry's nose to wipe at a stray spattering. Hermione caught Rebecca's eye and raised an eyebrow before turning back to Dumbledore's podium.

"First, let me introduce the newest member of our staff, Horace Slughorn." Slughorn stood up, waving out at the students. "Professor Slughorn has agreed to resume his post as Potions Master." The hall clapped happily.

Rebecca sat up straighter. "Oh no."

"Meanwhile, the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts will be taken by Professor Snape." The applause was limited only to the sprinkling of polite Hufflepuffs and the almost the entirety of the Slytherin table.

"Now, as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival here tonight. And you have the right to know why. Once there was a young man, who, like you, sat in this very hall, walked this castle's corridors, slept under its roof." Harry and Rebecca tried to look ahead, ignoring the eyes gravitating towards them by other students. "He seemed to all the world a student like any other. His name? Tom Riddle."

Ginny paled, looking down at her empty plate. Harry grabbed her arm quickly, his hand wrapping around and squeezing tightly. Ginny nodded and looked back up at the front of the hall. Rebecca patted Harry's back, grateful that he had the sense to offer support.

"Today, of course, he's known all over the world by another name. Which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I'm reminded of a sobering fact. Every day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls." Dumbledore found Harry and Rebecca in the crowd, looking over Harry's shoulder to stare into Rebecca's eyes. "But in the end, the greatest weapon is you. Something to think about." He called out that it was time to head back to their quarters.

Rebecca stood slowly, trying to eat a few more bites as Ron offered his opinion on the speech. "Cheerful end to a night, yeah?"

Hermione grabbed the back of Rebecca's collar, forcing her to walk beside her as she and Ron started to give the first years a tour. "This, newly-appointed Gryffindors, is the perfect example of what you're not to do..."

*******************************************

"I cannot believe you paraded me about like that." Rebecca scoffed, discarding her top robe once the girls were back in their dorm room so that she walking about in her pants and white shirt. "Marching me around like a spectacle!" Rebecca couldn't stay serious all the way through though and ended up laughing as she flipped the notches of her trunk. "You scared them with all your talk of detention."

Hermione grabbed her pajamas and went towards the bathroom, giggling. "Maybe you'll learn to follow the rules this year then."

Rebecca's stuff had shifted as it had been gone through, but there on top was the mini trunk Fred had told her about. Ginny had her back turned, pulling out her stacks of books and ordering them on her bookshelf. Rebecca stuck the trunk and the Marauders' Map in her pocket, making sure Ginny didn't notice. "Forgot Harry wanted to ask me s-something."

Ginny watched her leave, rolling her eyes.

Rebecca tapped her wand to her leg absent-mindedly, hoping that if Ron and Harry were upstairs like they said they would be she could make an easy escape out of the common room. Privacy was hard to come by, luckily she knew the perfect place.

The corridors were empty, aside from the wandering auror she evaded easily with the maps assistance. The familiar tapestry of the dancing trolls greeted her across the Room of Requirement. _"Privacy, light, and parchment for a letter, please."_

A door slowly grew in front of her, the wood aged and the knob a dark metal. _"That's new."_ Rebecca thought as she grabbed the cold handle, turning it and finding the room inside not like any she'd ever asked for before. The room was large and circular, grey stones paving the wall up to a high ceiling. There were boards and chalk around the room, torches and lanterns burning all around the focal point of the room: A large wooden table with parchment, ink, and a quill as well as an envelope.

Entering the room quickly, she set the map on the desktop and fished the trunk out of her pocket. Laying it away from anything else, she waved her wand at it. _"Engorgio."_ The trunk grew to a normal size, the latches popping open when it stopped. Rebecca was grinning as she lifted the top up, curious as to what would help her 'cause trouble.'

"Oh!" Her voice echoed around the room. "What in-" She sorted around the top layer of the completely filled trunk. There were potion makings and ingredients of every sort they had at the store, along with anything she'd need to send batches back to the shop or work on their imperfected ideas.

Near the middle, under a heaping bag of dried frog eyes, Rebecca pulled out a leather bound book with a pen attached to the string that tied it closed. She undid the knot easily, spinning the pen between her fingers as she opened the cover.

_For the trouble we cause together and apart. --Fred_

_That was cheesy. Ew. Keep track of your ideas and bring prototypes. --George_

_I don't know what they want me to write. Miss you! --Ced_

Rebecca clicked the pen and scribbled onto the first page with an idea already beginning. Once the basic premise was down, she started on a letter to mail on her way back to the common room, hoping it would be at the shop before morning.

*******************************************

"And where were you?" Ginny asked from her bed. Hermione didn't say a word from her desk, but she turned so that Rebecca knew Hermione was asking as well.

"I had to send off an owl." Rebecca lied. Rebecca _lied._

Ginny narrowed her eyes at her, sensing something off. "To Fred?"

"Yes, and George and Cedric." Rebecca crouched at her trunk and began transferring her clothes from the piles to where they belonged. "I would have let you read it if you wanted to know every word."

Ginny threw a pillow at her, laughing as it struck the back of her head with a muffled thump. Hermione stood up and stepped between them, Ginny unknowingly making it so Hermione brought up a subject other than Rebecca's whereabouts to stop the fight that was bound to ensue. "Times tables came!" Hermione held both Ginny's and Rebecca's out.

Rebecca tore into hers eagerly and skimmed it before handing it back up to Hermione. "Same as yours?"

Hermione nodded, "Mostly, I'm not taking Magical Creatures--I've got Ancient Runes."

"But everything else?"

Hermione smiled, "Yes, everything else. Although..."

Rebecca stood up, sensing the hesitation in her voice. "Although what?"

Ginny got off her bed, standing next to Hermione with her arms crossed. "A letter came." Hermione handed over the still-sealed letter.

"You could have opened it." Rebecca told them, lifting the wax. "I wouldn't want to wait, 'specially if it's from Dumbledore." Rebecca skipped over the greeting, scanning the body of the correspondence once, then twice, and handing it to the impatiently waiting Hermione and Ginny. "Just says Harry and I are to report to him evenings periodically throughout the year for 'private lessons.'"

Ginny looked away from the letter. "And?"

Rebecca shrugged, turning back to her still full trunk. "Wouldn't have killed him to say what these lessons are about, but it could be worse."

Hermione handed her back her letter. "How could it be worse? This is sixth year, we need all the time we'll have to revise and study and-"

"Could have been early in the morning." Rebecca interrupted, laughing with Ginny.

*******************************************

"Dumbledore wants to meet with you two for 'private lessons?'" Ron asked incredulously as he lounged on his bed, his stuff already thrown into his drawers or tossed onto his shelves.

"Yeah, he does." Harry answered without paying Ron much attention. He was too busy thinking about what it could be about and wondering if Sirius and Remus ever made it back home.

"I'm sure it'll be alright," Ron noticed Harry's absence. "Rebecca will keep everything in line." Harry nodded and plucked his times table off his desk, glancing over the empty period he and Ron had while the girls were in Potions. "And don't even worry about tomorrow morning. Figure we'll wake up in time for breakfast, give some first years wrong directions--Been wanting to do that ever since we got turned around for Transfiguration--Maybe head up to the kitchens and see if they'll give us lunch early! That'd be great! We could..."

Harry sat on his bed and found himself infected with Ron's enthusiasm. He might not be able to be an auror, but at least he had a friend.

*******************************************

<3


	4. PRE--99

**Despite the somber tone of dinner the night before** , the Great Hall was as boisterous as it was any first day of class of years past. The first years congregated amongst each other before splitting up to find older students for directions.

"Ah, Herbology. You'll go up to the seventh floor, take a left-"

"What are you doing Ron?" Rebecca asked, taking her attention away from the honey she was adding to her oatmeal. "Herbology isn't upstairs, it's not even in the bloody castle."

Ron narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head slightly. The tiny first year in front of him frowned, realising that Ron had been giving him the mick. "First day?" Rebecca asked, motioning for the boy to take a seat. "Excited?"

Ron scoffed and scooted down the bench, away from her and the boy. The boy grimaced, tears welling in his eyes as he looked around at all the noise and moving students and, funnily enough what sent him over the edge, the floating candles.

Rebecca picked her bowl up and nodded her head to the exit, swinging her bag over one arm and grabbing a collection of portable foods on her way out. "That was really rotten. You're a prefect!" Hermione scolded, happy to see that Ron at least looked a little guilty. Harry and Ginny tried to hide their laughter, instead putting their heads down towards their plates.

"What's your name?" Rebecca had led the boy to one of the benches in the corridor around one of the courtyards. She swung a leg over it and emptied the food into the space between him, handing him an apple and waving her hand over it all for him to take whatever he wants.

"Emmet."

Rebecca grinned, lifting her oatmeal higher. "Nice to meet you, Emmet. My name's Rebecca. That was Ron, he didn't mean to be a git--He thought he was being funny." Rebecca shook her head, putting her bowl down after taking a few bites. "Actually, that wasn't true." She laughed, "Someone told him how to get to Transfiguration wrong in our first year, guess he thought it was his turn."

Emmet didn't laugh, though a small smile seemed to fight to show. "That's not nice."

"No, no it isn't. Have a feeling that's not all that's wrong, though." Rebecca raised her eyebrow, taking another bite while he tried to decide why she was asking, why she was being nice.

"It's so weird here, magic and wands and robes. It doesn't feel real."

Rebecca sat back on the bench, "Muggle parents?" Emmet showed no understanding. "Your parents aren't magic, are they?"

"No, we all thought this was a joke."

They sat in quiet a moment, both trying to figure out what to say as they ate. "It gets better." Rebecca said at last, patting his knee. "Really, it does. It all seems wrong right now, but you'll find some friends and you'll find a place. Not to mention, magic's pretty bloody wicked." She took her wand out of her pocket and looked at the orange between them. _"Vera verto."_ The orange transfigure into a matchbox car before turning back into an orange.

"We'll learn how to do that?"

"All in good time, Mr Greeneway." Professor McGonagall's voice made Emmet jump.

"Good morning, professor. Ready to start the year?" Rebecca asked happily.

"Education waits for none, remember that Miss Potter." She turned and left without another word, leaving Emmet's mouth gaping.

"Who was that again?"

Rebecca finished her oatmeal as she explained who McGonagall was to him as a Transfiguration student and who she was to him as a Gryffindor. "I'm headed to the dungeons this morning, so I can't walk you." She checked the time. "Unless we go right now. If we leave now, I can show you to the greenhouses and be back in time. Probably."

"It's okay, I'll figure it out." Emmet sounded so sad and resigned to a poor first day, he solidified her decision.

"No, impossible. I'm afraid I've already decided. Let's go." Rebecca walked alongside him, pointing out certain quirks and tips as she guided him to the other side of the castle where the path to the greenhouses was clear. "This is as far as I can walk you and not be-" She sighed, the bells ringing. "Late."

"Thank you, for the shortcut and breakfast. And for being nice."

Rebecca grinned, "No, thank you! A walk in the sun was exactly what I needed before sitting in the dungeons all morning."

*******************************************

"That is the girls' lavatory!" Professor McGonagall called down the hall to a very lost Hufflepuff. The hallway was swarmed with students on their way to the first class of the year, though Ron and Harry weren't participating in the salmon run. They were standing up on a bench against the wall, laughing at the mess.

Hermione had left them minutes earlier, not able to wait for Rebecca's return any longer without risking being late herself and she was not going to let that be Professor Slughorn's first impression of Hermione Granger.

"Potter." McGonagall beckoned, disappointment evident. _"Oh my god, that's the face Rebecca was talking about."_ Harry thought, seeing how powerful the look was.

"This can't be good." Harry told Ron, hopping off the bench.

"Enjoying ourselves, are we?" McGonagall shook her head slowly, her blue eyes piercing through Harry.

"We-I had a free period this morning, professor."

"Yes, I noticed. I would think you would want to fill it with Potions, unless it is no longer your ambition to become an Auror."

Harry felt his cheeks warm as he had to word his failure to one of the women he looked up to most in his life. "Professor, I had to get an O. I only got an E, I can't."

"So you did, when Professor Snape was teaching Potions." McGonagall raised an eyebrow archly. "But Professor Slughorn is happy to accept N.E.W.T students with Exceeds Expectations."

"Brilliant!" Harry felt himself be recaptured with the hope of a future dedicated to the stopping of dark wizards. "I-I'll head there straightaway!"

"Potter!" Harry turned back. "Take Weasley with you. He looks far too happy." McGonagall turned back to help a first year who had stepped into the trick stair, shaking her head at the retreating sixth year boys.

Harry grabbed Ron, hurrying down the quickly emptying hall. "I don't want to take Potions! Quidditch trials are coming up--I need to practise."

"We told you not to worry about-What is that noise?" Both boys turned to the slapping growing closer behind them. "Is that-?"

Rebecca tore out from behind the corner, her bag swinging wildly as she pumped her arms. She slowed down when she saw them, but not by much. "Potions...Late...First day..." Harry fell into a run behind her, shaking his head. She took a deep breath. "Don't shake your head like that, arsehole. Only reason I'm late is because I helped that first year!"

Harry scoffed, "I had nothing to do with that, that was all Ron!"

"You didn't stop him, did you?" Rebecca asked before opening the Potions classroom door, not letting Harry get another word in. However, she realised as she looked into the classroom and every eye fell on the three of them, this meant that she was unable to ask why they were going to Potions class in the first place.

"Ah, I was beginning to worry!" Slughorn greeted both Potters, "Brought someone with us, have we?"

Ron stepped forward. "Ron Weasley sir. I'm dead awful at Potions, a menace, actually. I can just-"

"Nonsense! We'll sort you right out." Slughorn waved them in. "A friend of the Potter's is a friend of mine."

"Potter Weasley." Rebecca muttered, walking across the room to the space next to Hermione.

"You'll need your books, all of you." Slughorn announced to the class, Rebecca setting her bag on the floor to get it immediately. Lavender tittered at her rumpled appearance, gazing at Ron lewdly.

"I haven't got my book, nor has Ron." Harry explained sheepishly.

"That's alright, get what you want from the cupboard." Harry crossed the room, opening the cabinet and remembering how Rebecca had stared at the two copies of Advanced Potion Making at Flourish and Blotts. _"Strange."_

"As I was saying, I've prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these might be?" Slughorn leaned against the table with a selection of cauldrons. Hermione raised her hand instantly, but Rebecca took a moment to look over the class' occupants first. Pansy was leaning against the wall next to a sullen Draco and a thoroughly confused Crabbe and Goyle. Seamus, Dean, and Neville were side by side behind Lavender, who was on the other side of Hermione while Rebecca was closer to the front due to her late arrival.

"Yes, Miss?"

"Granger, sir." Hermione walked up to the first cauldron and observed it.

At the back of the classroom, Harry and Ron were fighting over the two copies in the cabinet: One tattered and old, one practically new. Ron was much taller than Harry, an advantage he put to use as he shoved Harry out of the way and got the newer one. Harry thumped Ron with his old book as they joined the class.

Hermione had identified the first two potions correctly and Slughorn was about to ask for another volunteer when Rebecca raised her hand. "Miss Potter, go ahead!"

Rebecca stepped forward, "Potter Weasley, sir." She didn't know why she was insisting he use both last names, perhaps it had something to do with how he'd demeaned she and Harry into collectors' items, perhaps it was because she missed Molly and Arthur, perhaps it was because she missed Fred.

"Miss Potter Weasley, then." Slughorn's mood was untampered and every instance of tenacity Rebecca showed, he was reminded more and more of Lily. Pansy snorted, but Draco shook his head sharply, looking down his nose at his prefect partner.

Rebecca put her hands on the table and stood taller, glancing at the two potions Hermione had correctly identified: Veritaserum and Polyjuice Potion. "This is...an Aging Potion, variation number four, right?" Slughorn nodded, impressed. "And this is," Rebecca's face reddened as she peered over the edge into the last cauldron. "Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world."

"What makes it that?" Professor Slughorn guided, knowing that Rebecca knew the answer by how she was smelling the air over the cauldron.

"Amortentia smells differently to each person, changing itself based on what one finds attractive." Rebecca smelled deeper, knowing the smell well. "For example, I smell..." She closed her eyes. "I smell clean laundry, fireworks, and nature--Like the forest after its rained." Rebecca stepped back, finding the replica of what Fred smelled like achingly perfect.

"Now, Amortentia doesn't create actual love. That would be impossible. It does, however, create powerful infatuation or obsession." The girls of the class inched forward, wishing to smell it for themselves. "For that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room." He placed the lid on and motioned for the girls to step back.

Harry put head on Rebecca's shoulder, putting his arm around her. "Y'okay?"

She nodded, listening to the class. "I'm fine."

"Guess you were right about needing two books." Harry waved his sillily, hoping it would make her smile. Rebecca nodded, saying nothing and trying to pay attention. Hermione shrugged at Harry, watching their exchange carefully before listening as Romilda Vane asked Professor Slughorn what was in the last cauldron.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a curious little potion." He unscrewed the clasp that held it up, holding it next to his head for them all to see. "It is known as Felix Felicis. But, it is more commonly referred to as-"

"Liquid luck." Hermione answered.

"Yes, Miss Granger." Slughorn nodded proudly. "Liquid Luck. Desperately tricky to make, disastrous should you get it wrong. One sip and you will find that all of your endeavours succeed."

Harry stared at the little vial curiously, wondering if it could help against Voldemort. Draco looked up from the floor.

"At least until the effects wear off." Slughorn walked around the table so that he was behind it. "That is what I offer you each today. One tiny vial of liquid luck to the student who, in the hour that remains, manages to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death. The recipe can be found on page 10 of your books." Rebecca held her book at her side, listening to his final directions. "I should warn you, only once has a draught of sufficient quality been made to claim this prize. Nevertheless, good luck to you all." He clapped his hands. "Let the brewing commence!"

Rebecca set her bag down at the seat next to Hermione's and opened her book, taking our the notebook she'd comprised of all Snape's notes on the potions they'd gone over in years past. She'd put together the notes he'd made on the board, the tips he'd said as they worked, as well as her favourite part of the project on the last page: Snape's Best Insults.

At the top of the list was 'Boy-Potter-Twin-Shadow,' but that was only because as much as she didn't really understand what he was trying to say, she could remember how red his face when as she'd annoyed him to the point of incoherence.

Harry sighed and opened his aged book, finding a cursive scrawl written along the top of the cover page. _"This book is property of The Half Blood Prince."_

Rebecca slid off the high chair, holding her book in front of her with her notebook tucked under her arm as she joined the other students at the ingredient closet. Once at the workspace beside Hermione and across from Harry and Ron, she began to work. Potions class was a much different experience without Snape. She hadn't been insulted yet, the room was light enough to actually see the words in front of her, the room didn't stink of terrified children.

Rebecca found that Potions with Slughorn was almost enjoyable.

The Sopophorous bean was the first ingredient, a bouncy, escape-artist of a legume that desperately didn't want to be cut up. Rebecca found that the best way for her was to pinch it down and slide the knife between the gap her fingers left, though this trick was not found by the others.

Professor Slughorn hardly had enough time to raise his hand up before he caught the bean Crabbe sent at his face. Harry read the Half Blood Prince's notes in the margin, crushing it as he directed.

"How did you do that?" Hermione demanded of Harry, looking from his cauldron to Rebecca's, both of them moving forward to the next step.

"Crush it, don't cut it." Harry explained.

Rebecca shrugged, "I cut it in slivers, not all the way through. By folding it back, like this over the cauldron, it squeezed right in."

Hermione shook her head, "The instructions specifically say to cut it into squares."

Goyle lifted his spoon out of his potion, the end gnarled, blackened, and smoking. Seamus ignored Dean's advice, looking into his cauldron as he sprinkled in the powder. As Dean had thought, a small explosion ensued and left Seamus dark with soot. Pansy's potion hopped out of her cauldron and crawled away, leaving Romilda screaming as she climbed up on the table.

Rebecca and Harry were neck in neck, although neither of them noticed. Rebecca was referring back to years' worth of lessons, remembering and reading when Snape had taught them the easiest and most efficient way to prepare each ingredient. Harry continued to follow the book's added instructions.

Hermione's hair grew frizzier and frizzier as she grew more and more agitated at both of their successes. She was following the instructions in the required text word for word to no avail. "You can look at my notes from other-"

"No!" Hermione had turned down Rebecca's offer. "I'll use what is given for this year, in this book."

Rebecca rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, instead focusing on the final touches of her potion.

"Time!" Slughorn called, clapping his hands at the front of the room. He slowly made his way around desks, tutting and gasping in shock at some of their work. "Miss Parkinson, you'll find that I caught your creation and disposed of it properly." Pansy glowered at the public admonishment, the fact that Slughorn hadn't meant it to be of insult mattering little.

"Oh my," Slughorn glanced between Rebecca's and Harry's, finding that they were almost identical. "Class? Gather around, observe."

"Will we be drinking them?" Rebecca asked curiously, wondering if he would be providing the antidote.

"Drink them? Good heavens, child!" Slughorn shook his head, reaching into his robe pockets. "These look so perfect, I daresay a single drop would kill us all." He dropped two leaves onto their cauldrons, the leaves igniting and turning to ash before them. "But, there can only be one winner." Slughorn glanced between their cauldrons, then between Harry and Rebecca. "Mr Potter, I do believe your draught is one shade darker, and therefore, more correct."

Rebecca looked between their potions, not seeing a single difference between the two. "Pro-"

"There we have it." Slughorn led Harry to the front of the classroom, addressing the class. "As promised, one vial of Felix Felicis." Harry reached for it, but Slughorn pulled his hand back. "Use it well." Harry gave a curt smile at the weak applause of the class, Rebecca one the only student applauding without malice. "That will be all for today, class. You are dismissed."

Rebecca stuck her books back in her bag and fell in step alongside Ron out of the classroom. "Miss Potter." Rebecca turned back, sighing. "Potter Weasley." Slughorn corrected with a smile. "A moment, if you please." Harry moved to follow her back in. "Alone."

Rebecca waved them on, "You heard him, alone. I'll be right behind you."

Harry and Ron grumbled something before Hermione dragged them down the hall. Slughorn waved his wand as she entered the Potions classroom again, the door swinging shut slowly with a slight squeak. "Rebecca," He looked up from where he was standing next to her cauldron. "May I call you Rebecca?"

"Of course." Rebecca stuck her hands in the pockets of her robes, hiding the fidgeting she found she absolutely could not stop. "Is there a problem, sir?"

Slughorn laughed, a deep, loud sound that left her feeling chastised for asking. "Trouble? No, far from it." Slughorn produced two more leaves from his pockets, asking her to step forward and see the difference in what happened when they were dropped into her potion and Harry's.

"Harry's doesn't quite get rid of the leaf, it's still floating there."

Slughorn nodded, crossing the classroom and taking out a small vial before going to the table with the four potions they'd used at the beginning of class. "I had a feeling that you would not benefit, nor desire from, luck. However, excellence deserves awarding." He cleared his throat. "Now, my dear, I may be old-" Rebecca shook her head, eliciting a chuckle from him. "I am old, there's no denying it. But, despite that, I once had love." Rebecca watched as he spooned Amortentia into the vial he held, smelling the air above it carefully. "Lavender, flour, and cinnamon. Just as the day she and I parted."

Rebecca took the vial he handed her gingerly, not understanding. "Sir?"

"Do you give me your word that that will not be used for any purpose other than to remind ourselves what we have to miss?" Slughorn scanned her face, prepared to take it back if he sensed any trace of unsureness.

"Yes," Rebecca couldn't help but bring the vial to her nose, smiling as the smell registered. "You have my word."

"Good, then get out." Rebecca grinned, hurrying out the door before casting an unbreakable charm to the vial and slipping it into her bag's front pocket. She found herself almost dancing down the hall.

*******************************************

"Charms was lovely, wasn't it?" Rebecca asked at lunch, still floating from her exchange with Slughorn.

"Yeah, if you count a mountain of homework as 'lovely.'" Ron scoffed and took another sandwich off the plate in front of him. "What's wrong with you?"

Rebecca stood up and waved quickly, pointing to the spot she'd left empty across from her. "Emmet! How was your morning?"

The first year glanced at Ron nervously, finding the older boy less intimidating as he ate like he'd been starved. "Fine, I guess." He lowered his eyes and took his lunch slowly.

"What is it?" Rebecca looked up and down the table, wondering if Nigel was around to walk him wherever his afternoon classes were. "Homework?"

"What's a 'mudblood?'" Hermione dropped her fork, the clatter turning Emmet's eyes to her. "It's bad, isn't it." Emmet sighed.

"Where'd you hear that?" Rebecca asked carefully.

"Who said that to you?" Hermione demanded. "Point them out, right now."

Emmet paled, shaking his head. "I don't even remember." He shrugged his shoulders, "I just wanted to know what it meant."

Rebecca bit her lip, grabbing Hermione's arm. "That's a word some people use as an insult to...those without magic parents."

Emmet looked between Harry and Rebecca, "Are you two mudbloods?"

Hermione pursed her lips, "We don't use that word. Muggle-born, that's what you use. that's what any respectable person uses."

"But it doesn't matter, not really." Rebecca smoothed over, hoping Emmet would drop it. "Magic is magic."

With perfect timing, Nigel appeared behind them and wrapped his arms around Rebecca and Harry's necks tightly. "Who's the shrimp?" Nigel laughed, patting Rebecca's head. "Not you."

"Ha. Ha." Rebecca pointed to the red-haired fourth year. "Emmet, Nigel. Nigel, Emmet." Emmet nodded his head, suddenly quite shy. Rebecca turned around on the bench and was dismayed to find that Nigel had apparently done nothing but grow over the summer. "Bloody hell! What is your mum feeding you?"

Nigel chuckled, "Plenty."

Rebecca hugged him quickly, happy to see him. "Would you be able to make sure Emmet makes it to-well, where ever he's off to next alright?" Rebecca lowered her voice, "And keep an eye on him? Someone's giving him trouble and I want to know who."

Nigel grinned, "Will you let me help when I do?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "Maybe." She turned back to finish her lunch, surprised to find Nigel suddenly holding a letter addressed to both she and Harry. "You're quite the messenger."

Nigel winked, backing away. "As long as Fred's not here!"

Ron and Emmet were talking quickly, Ron finding the younger boys quidditch education to be of the utmost importance. "Brooms? In the air?" Emmet asked in awe, all distrust of Ron from the morning in the past.

Scanning over the letter quickly, Rebecca pocketed it with a sigh. "First Dumbledore lesson tonight, Harry." Harry nodded, not really listening and trying to explain to Emmet what the snitch was.

"What'd Professor Slughorn want?" Hermione asked, peering over a cup of tea.

"You're so nosy!" Both girls laughed, finding themselves entirely ignored by the boys. "He said..." Rebecca reached for her bag, holding open the top pocket. "He bottled up some of the Amortentia, not for using."

Hermione understood instantly and regretted asking, especially as the sadness washed over Rebecca so visibly. "I'm sorry."

Rebecca shook her head, collecting herself and bottling it all up. "I'm not." Rebecca smiled deviously. "Now we're going to figure out what you smell and find you some sugar."

*******************************************

"You got my message, come in." Dumbledore waved them to the space in front of his desk, the headmaster seeming quite old and frail in the large seat. Rebecca and Harry stood side by side, their robes replaced with jumpers the second classes had ended for the day. "How are you?"

"Fine, sir." Harry answered for the two of them, Rebecca was busy surveying the room. She hadn't spent much time in Dumbledore's office without horrid reason to be so and the treasures surrounding them proved too enticing to remember her manners.

"Enjoying your classes?"

"Yes, sir." Harry answered again, grabbing Rebecca's arm and pulling her forward a step so she'd pay attention.

"I hear Professor Slughorn is most impressed with the two of you!"

Harry chuckled, "I think he overestimates my abilities, sir."

"Do you?" Dumbledore asked Rebecca, smiling at the curiosity burning behind her eyes.

"No, sir. Not for me at least." Rebecca grinned at Harry's face. "Practised nearly all summer at the shop."

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, I was quite impressed. The Pastilles are positively splendid. What about your activities outside the classroom, Harry?" Dumbledore emphasized the word 'your.'

"Sir?"

"Well, I noticed you spend quite a lot of time with Miss Granger. I can't help wondering if-"

"Oh no!" Harry said so emphatically, Rebecca turned and crossed her arms. "No, I mean-She's brilliant, and we're friends, but no." Rebecca nodded, accepting his acknowledgement of their friends greatness and turning back to Dumbledore.

"Forgive me. I was merely being curious." Dumbledore winked at Rebecca. "But enough chitchat. You must be wondering why I summoned you here tonight."

"It's not for tea and gossip?" Rebecca asked with a laugh.

"No, not quite." Dumbledore pushed himself to his feet shakily, walking with them down the stairs to the lower section of his office and stopping in front of a golden, ornately detailed cabinet. "What you're looking at here are memories. In this case, pertaining to one individual: Voldemort, or as he was known then, Tom Riddle."

He plucked out a certain vial, Rebecca noticing each one was labelled with a date and title. "This vial contains the particular memory of the day I first met him." Dumbledore met Harry and Rebecca's eyes. "I'd like you to see it if you would."

Harry nodded his head at Rebecca, asking her to take it from Dumbledore's outstretched hand. He didn't trust that he could without the two of them seeing how his hands were shaking. Rebecca did, putting her arm through the crook of Harry's and walking back to the large, slivery filled bowl on the table behind them.

She took the top off, holding the vial over the pool and looking to Dumbledore. He nodded and Harry's arm tightened around hers. The bottom of the vial now pointed up towards the ceiling, its contents spreading out in the basin like ink: Dark and mysterious.

Rebecca leaned forward, ready to fall like she and Harry had before. The wind rushed past she and Harry's faces, Rebecca finding Dumbledore in front of them and beside them once their surroundings solidified. A bleak building loomed over them from behind wrought-iron fence, the name over the arch labelling the misery as "Wool's Orphanage."

Dumbledore, their Dumbledore, prodded them forward until they followed the younger Dumbledore of the past through the gates. "I admit some confusion upon receiving your letter, Mr Dumbledore. In all the years Tom's been here, he's never once had a family visitor."

Harry and Rebecca hurried up the stairs behind the matron. "I must warn you, sir." The lady looked almost afraid to continue. "There have been incidents with the other children. Nasty things."

Dumbledore nodded, motioning for her to bring him to the child. She knocked on a door a little farther down the black and grey hall, not a single child in sight. "What kind of an orphanage doesn't have children?" Rebecca whispered.

"The other children...They don't come up here. He's one of the only occupants of this hall." The lady explained, answering both Rebecca's question and past-Dumbledore's quizzical expression.

"How do you do, Tom?" Young Dumbledore asked, stepping into the room the lady held the door open to. The woman ducked down the hall at the sight of Tom staring back at them. Rebecca looked over the boy curiously, finding that he looked perfectly normal. Harry pulled her back, keeping her firmly at his side as Young Dumbledore went to hang up his coat.

"Don't." There were shells on the windowpane, seven of them. Tacked up on the wall, the only other sign of life, was a postcard of a cliffside beach. "You're the doctor, aren't you?"

"No." Young Dumbledore took a seat on Tom's bed. "I am a professor."

"I don't believe you." Tom's voice took on an insolent tone, a tone that revealed years worth of hurt. "She wants me looked at. They think I'm different."

"Perhaps they're right."

"I'm not mad." Tom's tone was hard, telling both Dumbledores, Rebecca, and Harry that this was not a conclusion he was coming to himself. No, he was being told so often.

"Hogwarts is not a place for mad people. Hogwarts is a school. A school of magic." Young Dumbledore stared into Tom's eyes as the boy considered what he'd said. "You can do things, can't you, Tom? Things the others can't?"

Tom narrowed his eyes, sensing a challenge. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me. I can make them hurt." Tom's eyes took on a glint, "If I want."

Tom sat back in his chair, looking over Dumbledore entirely. "Who are you?"

"I'm like you, Tom." Dumbledore smiled like he was sharing a joke with the boy. "I'm different."

"Prove it." Tom spat. The wardrobe next to Harry and Rebecca ignited, the fire crackling loudly. Tom's eyes lit up, a sick joy taking over him at the instant inferno.

"I think there's something in your wardrobe trying to get out, Tom." Tom stood, opening the door quickly as the fire raged on without a shred of smoke, without a speck of damage. Tom pulled out the box from the bottom, standing inches from Rebecca and Harry.

Tom spread the boxes contents out on his bed, lowering his head in shame. "Thievery is not tolerated at Hogwarts, Tom." Tom looked up to Dumbledore. "At Hogwarts, you'll be taught not only how to use magic, but how to control it. You understand me?" Dumbledore gathered his coat, leaving the boy to think.

"I can speak to snakes, too." Tom called after him, young Dumbledore pausing in the doorway. "They find me. Whisper things. Is that normal for someone like me?"

The surroundings faded back to the inky blots in the liquid they were peering into, Tom's burning eyes the last thing they saw before they were standing back in Dumbledore's office with wet faces. Rebecca slid her glasses off, wiping at the beads of water with her sleeves as Harry did the same.

"Did you know, sir? Then?" Harry asked as he put his glasses back on his face.

"Did I know I'd just met the most dangerous dark wizard of all time? No. If I had..." Dumbledore took a quick breath. "Over time, while here at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle grew close to one particular teacher. Can you guess who that teacher might be?"

Harry glanced at Rebecca, the light shining up from the pensieve making her face gaunt and pale. "You didn't bring Professor Slughorn back simply to teach Potions, did you, sir?" She asked wiping her chin on her shoulder.

"No, I did not. You see, Professor Slughorn possesses something I desire very dearly. And he will not give it up easily."

Harry spoke after a moment, "You said Professor Slughorn would try to collect us."

Dumbledore nodded, "I did."

"Do you want us to let him?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked from Harry, then to Rebecca. "Yes."

*******************************************

"That's what he's doing with you?" Hermione asked curiously as Rebecca pulled her pajamas on. "To go through memories?"

"Seems it." Rebecca took the vial out of her bag and handed it to Hermione. "Enough about the past, smell."

Hermione took it carefully, taking the top off like she was holding explosives. "Parchment, freshly cut grass, and...spearmint toothpaste." Hermione capped the vial quickly, handing it back.

Ginny snorted, prompting Rebecca to offer her a smell. Ginny eyed it a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't want to know."

Rebecca laughed, putting the vial away. "Scared?"

Ginny put her nose in the air, mimicking a very regal tone. "I shalt not bother to smell mineself." This only sent all three girls into bouts of laughter, stopping only as they drifted off to sleep.

*******************************************

<3


	5. PRE--100

**Next chapter will be titled Chapter One and be the continuation of the story. Thank you for your patience!**

**Rebecca was relieved that Hermione** **had Ancient Runes** on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. After Dumbledore's meeting, Rebecca hadn't found a single moment Hermione let her out of her sight. It's not like Hermione was trying to be malicious or smothering, Rebecca reminded herself every time she wanted to snap and run off for a moment alone. Hermione just seemed particularly lonesome, needing near constant companionship.

 _"I guess she and George were quite close."_ Rebecca thought as she asked the Room of Requirement for the room she'd gotten their first night back. _"I always did wonder who George found to listen to him when Fred and I were-"_ End of thought. It was Rebecca's solution to Hogwarts without Fred, she did her best to not think of him outside of the few minutes she answered his letters.

It was hard and it hurt, but it hadn't even been a week yet and she knew that if she didn't do something, she was going to break down. Her reprieve? The vial of amortentia sat in the back of her drawer of the bathroom, only to be unscrewed a few minutes each evening while she let the shower run and let herself be miserable before putting back on the charade that she was perfectly fine.

Draco froze down the hall as Rebecca disappeared through the wooden door that had appeared in the wall, he having been planning on using the Room himself. "Stupid, didn't even ask for it to be soundproofed!" Draco whispered as he snuck down the hall, listening to the clatter of metal on metal and the beginning of a record. He found himself smiling as her voice joined in with the songs, the words far from right and her tune entirely off.

_"Which witch has gone which way? Make me laugh, make me pray..."_

Draco had his hand up and pounded on the door, shaking his head in disbelief and shock as the music scratched to a stop.

"Bloody fucking hell. Find a damn minute to myself and end up-" Rebecca threw the door open, expecting Hermione or Harry to have found her with the aid of the map. "Draco?"

Draco crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating. "What are you doing?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, copying his stance. "I could ask the same, considering you're interrupting me."

Draco pursed his lips, finding his mind blank. "Fine." He turned and stepped away, racking his brain for the next time he would be able to escape his housemates attention.

"You can come in. If you want." Rebecca said begrudgingly. "It's my fault anyway. I..." She sighed. "I forgot to ask for privacy because I wanted some biscuits. Got too many." Draco followed her in, finding that the door disappeared once they were in. "What? I learnt my lesson."

Draco took the chair by the table with a heaping mound of biscuits. It occured to Rebecca then, that if Draco was a Death Eater by now, she'd just locked herself in a room with him. But, glancing over her shoulder at how small he looked in the chair, she pushed all those thoughts out of her mind. They couldn't be true.

"You don't mind, do you?" Rebecca asked without waiting for an answer, starting the record again. She bobbed her head and walked back to the chalkboard, writing out the recipe she'd worked on so far before turning and going to the desk and its Potions set up.

Draco stood from the chair, tilting his head at the board before looking over across the desk. "What class is this for?"

Rebecca grinned, "Extra-curricular exploration."

Draco scoffed, "Really? Don't you think this is a waste of time?"

Rebecca shrugged, "It was supposed to be a peaceful break."

His brow furrowed. "Sorry. I can go."

"I'm not saying you have to go, just don't be so-" She gestured her hand over him. "Arseholeish."

He laughed, startling the both of them. "I'll try. Will you tell me what you're working on?"

"Nope." She grinned, "You're still a prefect. Don't you want to be surprised?"

He sighed, "Not really. You won't even give me a hint?"

Rebecca considered it. "Depends. Are you willing to be my tester?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at her before nodding, "If that's how I figure out what you're doing, I don't see a choice."

Rebecca winked, "There's always a choice."

The record player on the side of the room quickly became the only noise, Draco having propped himself up on the chair next to the biscuits with a book open in front of him and Rebecca flitting about her workspace. As much as Draco wanted to read his book to distract himself from the real reason he'd needed the Room of Requirement, he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her.

She bobbed her head with the songs, always working in one way or another. When she finally took a seat nearly an hour later, she had a vial in hand and a wide grin. "Go on then, a drop behind your ear."

He eyed the gold oil. "Maybe I do want to be surprised..."

"Don't be a spoilsport! One drop." Rebecca held it out farther. "Come on-"

"Fine." Draco took the vial quickly, letting a single drop land on his index finger before he dabbed it under his white-blond hair. The oil had a spiceful smell to it, almost like it was a spice pot left to simmer in an old house.

"Now try and say something." Rebecca sat on the edge of her seat, her head tilted slightly as she waited to see if it was ready to be sent to Fred and George for judgement.

 _"AVE MARI-"_ Draco clapped his hand over his mouth at the vibrato-spledour worthy of an Italian opera professional poured out of his mouth. _"GRA-"_

Rebecca jumped up, clapping and bringing the vial to the envelope she wanted to send off before meeting the others in the common room for some homework. A minute passed of Draco testing his voice, a minute where he continued to belt to miscellaneous opera before he finally spoke again. "What the hell was that?"

Rebecca didn't look up, scratching away at the message with the bottle. Draco stood up, taking the quill from her hand and causing it to smear across the paper. "Hey!"

"What. Was. That?" He enunciated, keeping the quill out of her reach.

She took her wand out and waved it at the ink errors, frowning. "This would be classified as aresholish." Looking up at him, she crossed her arms--Refusing to jump for her quill. "The oil?"

"No, the bloody perfume. Yes, the oil!"

"That would be my first perfected solo product, if it pleases you." Rebecca slapped the desk loudly, causing Draco to jump. "Give me my quill!" He handed it over without hesitation. "Operatic Oil, I got the name!"

Draco stood awkwardly as she wrote a moment longer, finally standing and putting the vial and the letter into the envelope.

"Thank you." Rebecca said at last. "For testing it, that is." She looked around the room. "Not as much fun to test things yourself."

"How are Weasle-bee one and two?" Draco's tone didn't have the edge it normally did when talking about the Weasleys, something Rebecca didn't fail to notice.

"Why do you have to do that?" She swung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her envelope, taking a handful of biscuits for the walk to the Owlery. "You damn well know it's Weasley." She looked up concerned, "Unless you're feeling confused."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Your oil hasn't left me muddled."

"Okay, then why do you have to bad mouth them?" Rebecca shook her head. "Us, really."

Draco knew what he had to do, the opportunity had presented itself and if he didn't do it now, if he didn't sever all ties with her entirely and completely, she was going to get hurt. When he looked back at this, Draco would think of his following words as the hardest he would ever said. "You're not one of them." Rebecca opened her mouth to tell him off, but he continued. "You're not. You're not a Weasley and..." Draco squared his shoulders, facing her directly and staring into her eyes. "You never will be. You're just a charity case that got dumped on them, a pet. An orphan they can't wait to be rid of."

Rebecca looked at him in silence. She wanted to scream at him, she wanted to hit him, she wanted to cry, she wanted to leave, she wanted to do a lot of things. But, her feet stopped listening to her and her brain was filled with his words' echo. It was her worst fear, she'd gotten accustomed to a family. If it was all torn away...It wouldn't be like life with William. She knew what it was like to be treated well, to be loved. Rebecca couldn't stop the tears from leaving her eye; She wiped it away with her sleeve. "You really are an arse."

Her feet came back to life, guiding her from the room that emptied as she left. Her desk, her boards, her space all faded into grey until Draco left the room and asked for what he'd really gone their for: The room with the mounds and piles of discarded furniture, including the vanishing cabinet.

Rebecca thought that leaving him behind would make her feel better, that it would solve her problems, but she couldn't have been more wrong. She had to stop in the first lavatory she found, unable to contain herself any longer. Her bag stayed on her back, the envelope safely tucked on top as her hands grabbed the marble sink sides and her head bowed. Her body shook with the sobs that wracked through her body.

When Ginny had left Transfiguration a few minutes earlier, she'd mainly done so to get away from the neverending lecture, even just for a moment. Finding Rebecca in such an uncharacteristic, unsoothable state was a stroke of fate. Ginny was at her side in an instant, moving so fast Rebecca hadn't even had time to register that someone else was in the bathroom.

"What's happened?" Ginny demanded, pulling Rebecca away from the sink and into her shoulder. Rebecca put her arms around Ginny, burying her face into her neck and shaking her head. "Rebecca, I need to know." Rebecca held Ginny tighter not answering. "I'll get Hermione if I have to."

Rebecca took a shuddery breath, not lifting her head from where it was nestled against Ginny's collarbone. "Don't." Ginny's hand moved in circles on Rebecca's back, her head resting on top of Rebecca's.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to give me a name." Ginny gritted her teeth. "Ron and I, Harry too, we've got an arse to beat."

Rebecca didn't say anything for a moment longer.

"I at least have to know what they said." Ginny's tone was desperate, Rebecca's silence scaring Ginny more than her sobbing had.

"It was Malfoy." Ginny continued to stroke Rebecca's back, her hands not faltering. "He said-I don't see how it matters. He said what he said. Repeating it won't change anything."

Ginny shook her head, holding Rebecca at arms length. "It does matter, it matters to me."

Rebecca's eyes filled with tears again. "I'm not a Weasley." Ginny's face burnt with a passion, her rage growing as Rebecca continued. "I'm not one of you, and I never will be. I'm-" Rebecca wiped at the stream of tears falling slowly down her cheek. "I'm an just an orphan"

Ginny's hands tightened on Rebecca's shoulder to the point of pain, the younger girl bringing Rebecca's face inches from hers. "Those are all lies." Ginny's voice was low and dangerous. "You know it."

Rebecca tried to step back, stopped by Ginny's iron grip, "I know they are. You don't understand."

Ginny stepped forward, stopping only when Rebecca's bag hit the wall. "Then make me."

"You can't!" Rebecca cried out, shaking her head and finding that her tears were slowing. "You can't."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, finding she had little patience. "Don't tell me what I can and can't understand!"

"You'll never have to worry about being tossed out." Rebecca said after a pause. "If mu-Molly and Arthur decided tomorrow that they were done with me, they could. It's daft to pretend other-" Ginny reached forward and hit the side of Rebecca's head with her palm. "Hey!" Ginny did it again, hitting her on the other side. "Stop!"

"You stop!" Ginny roared, bringing her hands up to beat Rebecca further. "Boo hoo! The big bad Slytherin said something mean!" Ginny lowered her hands, finding that she needed to hug Rebecca again after seeing how the older girl was looking at her. "Don't correct yourself, their mum and dad now. You know damn well you're as good a Weasley already and it's not like you'll ever not be one, one way or the other."

Rebecca lifted her head off of Ginny's chest slowly, finding herself emotionally exhausted. "What?"

"Well...you know...One day there'll be a hyphen."

*******************************************

"Say hi if you see Darcy out there, yeah?" Rebecca spoke softly in the Owlery after dinner that night. She wandered back to bed after the Draco-Ginny-incident, finding that the second her head hit the pillow she'd gone out like a light. Hermione had found her like that when she'd woken her up for dinner: Robes on, snoring lightly, dead to the world.

Hedwig cooed, lifting her head to Rebecca's hand for a scratch before heading off into the night with the letter and the vial. Rebecca considered adding in an addendum with what had happened, but decided against it. There was no need to bother Fred with something as silly as- "Darcy?"

The big brown owl landed in front of her, his feathers ruffled and a scroll tied to his foot. It untied easily, the message to the point:

_Statue of the one-eyed witch--Eleven._

_-Fred_

Rebecca left the Owlery quickly after that. She already had the invisibility cloak, Harry hadn't asked questions when she'd asked for it earlier in the week. All he said was that if she was leaving the castle, she'd better get him. Rebecca smiled at the memory, stepping through the portrait hole to find Hermione and Harry arguing in front of the fire.

Hermione whirled on Rebecca, pointing a finger at her. "Did you know?"

"Know what? Bloody hell, I've just walked in!"

Hermione shook her head, "No, I know you didn't. You have some sense."

"Personally, I like to think I have a little more than 'some.'" Rebecca said, no one listening.

Ron spoke up from where he was lounged out on the couch. "Hermione's jealous because the book Harry's got has him at the top of the class, higher than both of you!"

Rebecca snorted, "Yeah, sure. It's the first week and," Rebecca lowered her voice like it was a secret. "I have yet to do worse than him, he can't be higher than me without that."

"Not the point!" Hermione interrupted Harry's rebuttal, not wanting to hear how he'd won the Liquid Luck. "Let us see the book."

"No!" Harry held it at his side, backing away from the girls. "The binding is fragile."

"Fragile?" Rebecca asked incredulously. "What is going on?"

"That book--his tips--are coming from an unknown author!" Hermione crossed her arms.

Ginny, sitting on the chair behind them, grabbed the book from Harry's hand and opened the cover. "Who's the half-blood prince?"

"Who?" Rebecca stepped to Ginny's side and read the name herself.

"That's what it says right here, _This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince."_ Ginny closed the book. "You're following words in a book and you don't know where they came from?" Her voice was quiet.

"It's not like that," Harry reassured immediately. "Look, go for it if you want. I've already made sure that they're just notes." Rebecca looked at Harry as Hermione and Ginny cast diagnostical charms and spells on the book. Harry had his arms crossed. "I'm not a half-wit."

Rebecca walked to Harry's side and put an arm around his middle, watching as Hermione and Ginny spoke in hushed tones. "You know they're just watching out for you."

Harry nodded. "I know." He sighed, "I'm not at the top of the class, just so you know."

Rebecca snorted, "I know." She patted his back before turning up to her room, the evening growing late enough that she could finish one homework assignment before leaving the tower. "At least I don't need anonymous tips."

He stuck his tongue out at her before taking the book Hermione and Ginny held back out to him. The last thing Rebecca heard from the common room was, "It would appear that they're just notes."

*******************************************

"Oh, I guess another wouldn't hurt." The Fat Lady held her cup out in her sleep, disturbed, but not awakened, as Rebecca opened the door. Rebecca crept down the hall, the invisibility cloak hiding her from the patrolling aurors.

The hardest part about the trip down to the dungeon of the castle was keeping herself calm. Something felt off about Fred's note, it was too short, the writing to dark. He'd written angrily.

Down in the tunnel to Hogsmeade, Rebecca would find that she was right about one thing: Fred was furious. Ginny'd written him a brief, minimally detailed letter during lunch to tell him that he should be extra kind when they get to Hogsmeade next month and that he could send a nice letter. All leading Fred to the conclusion that something had happened.

He paced back and forth, his wand in hand, his features swathed in shadows as the flames of the torch he'd lit bounced and danced in the darkness. He jerked to a stop at the sound of footsteps coming down the tunnel.

"Fred?" Rebecca called, stupidly.

"Wouldn't you be buggered if I was someone else." Fred remarked. Rebecca tore the cloak off and put her arms around him tightly. He turned in a slow circle, holding her with just as much need as she was. "Ginny wrote."

Rebecca frowned, looking up at him. "She didn't need to, I'm fine."

Fred shook his head, cradling the side of her head. "She said it was the most upset she'd ever seen you. You scared her."

Rebecca closed her eyes, leaning her head into his hand. "It's done, in the past." When she opened her eyes again, Fred's face was set in a scowl.

"Was it Seamus again?"

"Fr-"

"It was Ron, wasn't it? What's he being an idiot about now?"

"No-"

"I swear, I'll tear them to shre-"

"Fred!" Rebecca's hands tightened on his waist, shaking him once into silence. "It was Malfoy. I-He just shocked me."

"Shocked?" Fred asked, his disbelief evident.

"I...I wanted to believe that you could choose to be good." Rebecca told him what he had said. "I won't be so naive next time."

Fred grabbed her by her shoulders, putting her back against the wall roughly. "You're not naive," Her breath caught in her throat, the fierce glint in his eyes only magnified by the firelight. "Everyone has a choice, everyone makes the choice to do what's right or what's wrong. You've always believed that." Fred brought his face closer, his words slow and level despite the grip he had on her. "And he was wrong."

Rebecca stared into his eyes, knowing that Ginny had told him the what had been said, just not by whom.

Fred gave her a crooked smile before pulling her into a passionate kiss. "You're not no one's, you're mine."

*******************************************

"I don't see why you can't just tell me." Fred pouted. "It's not like I won't know the second I get back."

"I don't know if I could explain it right." Rebecca wasn't wrong. After his proclamation, they'd spent more time than they should have in the tunnel snogging. Her head still felt like it was swimming, Fred's effect on her distractingly potent. She was blaming it on how much she'd been missing him, but there was something else. Something about the way he'd said those words.

_"You're mine."_

"Hello?" Fred waved a hand in front of her, startling her out of her thoughts. "I was begging for information?"

"You'll see when you get home." Rebecca put her arms over his shoulders, his bent down stance letting her have arms above his. One of her hands rested on the back of his head, slipping through his hair. He buried his face into her neck, leaving a trail of pecks down her neck to her collar bone. "Don't."

Fred paused, his lips still against her skin. "Don't what?" With each word his lips brushed against her skin, his breath hot. She didn't say anything. Fred sighed and stood up, "Okay, okay. It is a school night, after all."

Rebecca nodded, "Yes, and you're not supposed to be here."

"Funny how that comes up after you molest me."

Rebecca's mouth dropped open, "Molest?!"

"I was not a willing participant, not at all. Your snog was entirely one sided." He watched her try to stay serious and laugh. Rebecca picked to cloak up, brushing it off before holding it at her side and turning to him. "I know."

"You know what?" She asked cheekily.

"I know you love me, that's what you were thinking."

Rebecca shrugged, "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Fred reached out for the wall, holding onto it like she'd made him weak.

Rebecca walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Maybe. Write me tomorrow about what you think, okay?"

He nodded, grabbing her hand as she walked away. "Love?" Rebecca closed her eyes a moment, opening them sadly. "Just don't forget your friends are there, okay?" Rebecca wrapped her arms around him again, nodding into him. "And good luck tomorrow. Well, today now." He checked the time and frowned. "Didn't mean to have you out so late."

"I'm a co-captain, I should have only half the work. Besides, I think I needed this."

Fred grinned, "Obliged to help, m'lady." They both laughed a moment before saying--and kissing--goodbye a final time.

The castle was as empty as it had been when she'd first walked to the tunnel. It was, however, nearly one in the morning and that was to be expected. Until Rebecca walked past the third corridor intersection, she hadn't even seen any of the aurors that were supposed to be on guard at all times.

In the intersection, three of them were huddled around each other, talking amongst themselves freely.

"Those centaurians, they're raising cain out there, ain't they?" The bearded one's voice was so deep it felt like it was coming from grating boulders.

"Yes, McGorvich. Just as they were last night. And the night before that. And the night-"

"That's enough, Ute." The third, woman silenced the taller woman and the tall man's bickering before it could start. "You only get one break, don't waste it arguing."

"Thank you, Swanson." The man, McGorvich, said pointedly. "I just wanted to see if there had been any information on what has them so riled up."

Ute put a cigarette between her teeth, ignoring the frown Swanson gave her. "It's that tree."

Rebecca froze, her ears straining needlessly to catch their conversation as the three adults continued. They weren't speaking quietly and they certainly weren't hiding anything.

Swanson nodded, "That does seem to be the precipice of their festivities."

"What festivities?" McGorvich plucked the cigarette from Ute's lips and took a long drag from it before handing it back. _"They must do that frequently, if she's not complaining."_ Rebecca thought, shaking her head at such a pointless observation.

"Albus received a message from their leader, something about the stars revealing that a new hero would rise." Swanson sighed and checked the time, seeing how their break was through. "But you didn't hear it from me." She gave instructions to the other aurors before they split and went their separate ways.

Rebecca wandered back to bed as they departed, seeing how she wouldn't be getting any new information that night. _"Nothing ever seems to be easy."_ Was her final thought before she drifted off to sleep, thankful that Hermione hadn't noticed her exit.

*******************************************

"Are you ill?" Hermione was peering over Rebecca the next morning, shaking her lightly. "I've been calling you for ages now. You're going to want breakfast."

Rebecca stretched, mumbling something about being tired. Ginny threw Rebecca's quidditch kit on her, grinning. "C'mon, can't be late." Rebecca sat up slowly, raising her arms so that her kit fell onto the bed next to her. "Chop chop!"

Eyes opening and growing accustomed to the bright morning light, Rebecca nodded. "I know. I'm up." She pulled her pajamas off and donned her kit, grinning at the 'captain' patched onto the shoulder that gleamed back at her in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. "Breakfast?" Rebecca called, hurrying out of the room like she had been waiting for them.

Ginny ran after her, Hermione trailing behind as she tried to decide which book to bring with her to the stands. "So? How was last night?"

"It was a mistake, Ginny." Rebecca put her arm around her as they went down the stairs, Harry and Ron moving to the door and pausing for them. "A wonderful, perfect, brilliant mistake. He can't come save every bad day."

"He didn't save the day." Ginny grumbled. "I did."

Rebecca laughed, "No, I guess you're right. It was perfect though."

"What was perfect?" Ron asked nosily.

"Funny, didn't realise we'd invited you into our conversation, Ronald." Ron gave Ginny a face, sending Ginny forward to shove him away before running down the stairs, Ron in a hot pursuit.

"You're feeling better, I guess?" Harry fell into step beside Rebecca, straightening his shirt.

"Were you spying on me with the map?" Rebecca asked incredulously. "After all the work we've put into boundar-"

"Ginny asked me if what I thought about owling for Fred." Harry rolled his eyes. "And if I had, it wouldn't have been spying. It would have been....safety reconnaissance."

Rebecca was quiet a moment, Harry and her weaving through the crowded breakfast corridors before entering the Great Hall. "I'm feeling fine." She said at last, glancing at Harry before looking away again. "He just knows how to fix everything." A blush simmered lightly on her cheeks.

Harry and Rebecca joined the now silent Ron and Ginny, not saying anything about the sign language going between them. Ginny crossed her thumb across her neck at Ron menacingly while Ron stuck two fingers up at her.

"Ronald!" Hermione gasped as she sat down on the other side of him. "You are a prefect!"

"But she-"

"I don't want to know." Hermione's voice took on the frightening tone it did when she was deadly serious about something. "Don't do that again, at least not in the Hall!"

Ron nodded, turning his attention away from good natured sibling conflict to the huge breakfast spread in front of them. Rebecca plucked a muffin from the plate, shaking her head as she looked down the table to where Emmet sat entirely alone.

"We have to leave in fiv-"

"Five minutes, I know." Rebecca patted Harry's shoulder as she passed him. "It's still five minutes." She slid onto the bench across from the first year and smiled warmly. "Good morning!"

Emmet looked up and down the table before returning his eyes to the bowl in front of him. "You don't have to sit with me. I know you just feel bad."

Rebecca leaned forward, "I don't feel badly for you." She grabbed an apple from the bowl, hoping she'd have a moment to finish it as they walked to the pitch. "I feel badly for all these nutters, they don't know what they're missing out on!"

Emmet didn't say anything as he looked over her outfit. "Where're you going in that?"

Rebecca stood up quickly, noticing how Harry was motioning for her to wrap it up. "Quidditch tryouts. You should come! Hermione's sitting up in the stands too."

Emmet stood up with a sigh, "I don't have anywhere else to be."

Rebecca looked at Hermione pointedly, although unnecessarily. "I hope you're offering to keep me company." Emmet nodded once, quietly taking in the older kids. "Good."

Harry sighed, "He still not getting on?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Doesn't seem it. I asked Nigel to make sure he was okay. I've got something I'm planning for Monday, think I'll ask him to help."

"Plans? Since when do you make plans?" Harry snorted. "Would you be late to your own plans or is that only something you do for other peoples'?"

Rebecca took a bite of her apple, ignoring his badgering and turning his attention to the group they could see already formed in the pitch. "Instead of being a git, why don't you think about the tryouts we're about to put on?"

Harry grunted, crossing his arms. "You don't have a plan?"

"I thought I didn't make plans." Rebecca smiled cheekily, "Course I have a plan. I always have a plan."

*******************************************

"This? This was your plan?" Harry hissed annoyed. "To let them talk themselves out?"

Rebecca shrugged, "I thought it would work! Just say something and get their attention."

"Why can't you? You're the people-person."

"Harry, that is absur-"

"SHUT IT!" Ginny shouted at their side, the group falling silent immediately.

Harry glanced at Ginny thankfully while Rebecca clapped her hands and surveyed the lot. "We're going to be running some drills to assess your skills and whatnot."

Harry continued, "Remember, just because you made the team last year does not guarantee you a spot this year. Is that clear?"

No one answered. "Good!" Rebecca asked for all the chasers to follow her move towards her. Harry asked the beaters to go to him.

Ron glanced up at the stands where Hermione waved from her seat next to the slowly-opening up Emmet. Ron's shoulder was knocked roughly, Cormac McLaggen pushing him as he stepped to his side. "No hard feelings, Weasley, alright?"

"Hard feelings?"

"Yeah." Cormac answered like the answer was obvious. "I'll be going out for keeper as well. It's nothing personal."

"Really? Strapping guy like you? You've got more of a beater's build, don't you think?" Ron looked the other boy over. He was taller than Ron was, and considerably more broad. His arms were corded with muscle and every angle about him was defined. "Keepers need to be quick, agil-"

Cormac raised a hand into the space between them and caught the fly that had been buzzing around them. "I like my chances." Cormac turned his head up towards the stands. "Could you introduce me to your friend Granger? Wouldn't mind getting on first-name basis, if you know what I mean." Cormac grinned at Ron sleazily. Ron didn't open his mouth, he had a sickening feeling he'd say something he'd sorely regret.

Luckily, he didn't have a chance. Rebecca and Harry called for the keepers to take a side and for the chasers to split up evenly. The crowd cheered loudly, more support for Ron than not and only a few voices shouting for Cormac. Emmet watched Hermione stop looking at her book, her attention fully diverted to the game in front of them.

Ginny was clearly one of the best chasers on the pitch, rivaled only by Rebecca and she was more occupied with analysing the players with Harry off to the side. "McLaggen's doing a good job." Harry said softly.

"I know. Ron hasn't had his chance yet, he'll do better." Rebecca wasn't worried, not entirely. Ron was a good keeper, he just had to be in the right mindset. Seeing Ron hold onto his broom like a lemur does a vine, that was probably when she realised she was starting to worry. "Bloody hell."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Lavender who was sitting a few rows ahead of them, especially when she continued to cheer for Ron and dramatically gasp every time the quaffle so much as inched towards him. The waffle, as Emmet continued to accidentally call it, was stolen by Ginny and taken back towards the other boy, the one who Emmet thought looked like a painting.

He looked down at his shoes and noticed his laces were uneven. Hermione turned her head, whispering into her hand as Ginny made a shot. _"Confundus."_

Emmet sat back up, "Did you say something?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, did you?"

Emmet looked at her carefully. "No..."

A few minutes later, when Ron made an exceptionally fancy save by spinning under his broom and blocking the quaffle with his helmet, Lavender turned to Luna who was next to her. "Isn't he brilliant?"

Luna blinked, shocked out of her daydream. "Not particularly."

Down on the pitch, Harry and Rebecca were looking over the beaters as they walked the pitch's edge. "Look at her, she swings like an executioner."

Harry eyed his sister, "That is not a normal comparison."

Rebecca ignored him, looking farther down the row where another girl was making her bat whistle she was swinging so hard. "And her! This is damn near impossible. What if we chose them all. No, don't give me that look. We pick them all and make them take turns-"

"That is impossible." McGonagall said from behind them. "You must choose one person to fill the position and one to be their replacement, that is it."

Rebecca looked at the ground, ashamed McGonagall had heard her. "How do you pick?" Harry asked her. "How did you pick us?"

McGonagall smiled, "You two were a little out of the ordinary, I knew how your father flew." The professor looked out over the pitch and the stands. "It's something I just knew."

Rebecca sighed, "We have until the afternoon, right?"

McGonagall nodded, "Yes, until three. The lists have to be approved and then posted before supper." McGonagall looked between them two, "I trust co-captains to be on the same page with each decision."

Harry and Rebecca answered in unison. "Of course."

*******************************************

The Great Hall was filled with the sounds of scraping cutlery, celebration, and loss. "I hope Cormac's not taking it too hard." Ron said as he cut into another serving of chicken, sounding like he absolutely hoped Cormac was suffering. "Hev ot a ing or ou, erione."

Hermione looked at Ron distastefully. "I do not speak food-in-mouth."

Rebecca chimed in, "I do! He said Cormac's got a thing for you."

Ron nodded, eating more. Hermione frowned, "He's positively vile." Harry ignored the feeling of Ginny's eyes landing on him and instead focused on getting the last greenbean off his plate onto his fork.

Emmet waved to Rebecca from down the table. After tryouts had finished and a list had been made, Rebecca went on a hunt for every Gryffindor first year she could find, telling them about the mental rumour she'd heard about Emmet and Monday morning, adding more and more insane details until it started to spread on its own.

Of course, Rebecca had made sure it was okay with Emmet in the first place and she had. The second she'd walked next to him as they headed back up to the castle. "Why are you doing this? Don't you have your own issues to solve?" Emmet hadn't asked her cruelly, he was honestly curious as to why she'd taken such an interest in him.

"I don't know." Emmet gave her a face. "Honest! I don't. My," She sighed. "My boyfriend's not here this year. I thought it would be something he'd have agreed with."

Emmet looked at her carefully. "Fred?"

Rebecca laughed, "Where'd you figure that out?"

Emmet joined her laughter, finding the feeling alien after the lonely week he'd had. "You get letters from a Fred every morning and you tear into them like Christmas presents."

Harry leaned forward, "That's not just because its him, she opens every envelope like that."

Emmet thought that was even funnier, laughing harder. Harry turned to Ron after a moment, wanting to go over a few things of his that needed improvement. Rebecca put an arm around Emmet's shoulders, lowering her voice. "Listen to this, it's how we're going to get you out there..."

Granted, the idea had been a lot better in her head before she and Emmet were standing in front of Professor McGonagall's desk.

 _"That's the look Rebecca warned me about."_ Emmet thought, only able to look straight into their head of house's eyes a few seconds before having to look away. _"It really does scream in disappointment."_

*******************************************

<3


	6. CHAPTER 1

**"It's really not that bad, is it?"** Rebecca said cheerily, looking down the hall at the coats of armor that glistened in the evening torch light. 

"Not that bad?" Emmet laughed. "I guess it could be worse."

Rebecca slapped him on the back before picking up her bucket and rags and taking the left side of the corridor. McGonagall had scolded them for ages. _"Never have I been so disappointed in the leading astray of the young...I don't even want to know how many countless hours you took away from your studies..."_ Et cetera. In the end, she and Emmet had been sentenced to two weeks of evening armor polishing.

She and Emmet relived the exhilaration of their escapade with each detention; The oil reacted with inanimate objects exactly as it had with human trial, loudly. The castle's breakfast Monday morning had been abruptly interrupted as they ran up and down the halls, touching the oil somewhere differently on each coat. By the time Filch had found them all, the castle had been hearing opera in one way or another for hours.

Just as Rebecca had thought, Emmet was soon the talk of the first years. He hadn't sat alone at a meal in the week since, and he was never alone in the common room. It had been exactly what he needed--To be noticed. Hermione refused to believe that Rebecca's goals had been only philanthropic, but she hadn't made too big of an issue of it. Both Rebecca, Hermione, and Ginny found that they couldn hardly fight with each other because they were too busy fuming at Ron's sudden noticing of Lavender's pursuit.

Just as Hermione wouldn't listen to Rebecca's insistence that Emmet was the only reason she'd played such a prank, Rebecca wouldn't listen to Hermione's insistence that she only hated the new coupling out of solidarity. "Lavender's been the a monster, especially to you! As you're my friend, it's my job to be angry--on your behalf." Hermione tried, but Rebecca rolled her eyes each and every time she had to hear it.

But that was in September, back when things were simple.

*******************************************

_September 12, 1996  
Rebecca,_

_I cannot believe you didn't tell me what you sent ahead so I could tell you how brilliant you are with my lips. Not like talking lips, but-You get it. Pretend that was much cooler than it was. But, back to you, this is wicked! George's especially impressed by how you used the Whistle-Blossom seeds in the recipe...I'm not. I know there's nothing that keeps you from getting an idea off the paper._

_Have a laugh with the picture, it's our new and improved poster on the front. (And don't worry, it's all in good fun, exactly what a joke shop needs to be.)_

_Any word on the first Hogsmeade trip?_

_Love,  
_ _Fred_

(Attached was a photo of George and Cedric on either side of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes sign that now said, 'Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who? You should be worrying about U-No-Poo--The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation!')

*******************************************

_September 14, 1996  
Fred,  
_

_I didn't tell you for two reasons: One, I knew you wouldn't be able to convince George to try it if you knew what it would do, you'd laugh and scare him away. Two, I knew exactly how you would want to 'celebrate my brilliance.'_

_I will worry about what I want to, especially if it's about you lot. But, that's bloody hilarious._

_I've got something big planned, something you two'd approve of entirely. I'll send word on its success._

_No word on Hogsmeade yet, I think Dumbledore's having trouble coordinating with security. You haven't heard anything about Snuffles and Moony, have you?_

_Love,  
RJ_

*******************************************

_September 17, 1996  
_

_RJ,_

_Snuffles and Moony are on holiday still, they should be returning any day now. I take it since I haven't heard from you that your 'plan' has landed you into detention._

_I'm so proud. Make sure McGonagall doesn't miss the three of us troublemakers--Though I bet you're making up for us!_

_Fred_

*******************************************

_September 20, 1996  
Darling,_

_Yeah...About that detention..._

_Turns out, Operatic Oil on every coat of armor on the fourth floor lands you two weeks of nightly armor polishing. I wasn't entirely alone, at least. I let a first year tag along. They seem so much smaller this year and there were even fewer than last year. But this one really needed it--Social opportunity and all that rubbish._

_I think it's safe to say that McGonagall isn't missing the three of us together, I've been compensating well._

_First Hogsmeade weekend is set for the second week of November, will you be able to make it?_

_Your love_

*******************************************

_September 25, 1996  
Love,  
_

_I wouldn't miss it for the world. Ignore the Prophet's report today--It wasn't as bad as they made it seem, the shop is fine. We're fine. All of us. (And Margot, I checked.) George isn't happy about the loss of business, but we've updated our hours so that the shop's empty before its dark._

_Florean's is nearly leveled. He's been hiding for months now, but it was still a shock to be eating lunch when the street was attacked._

_I attached a cut out of everything you need to know so you don't have to scramble or take it from Hermione while she's reading it. I wouldn't want you to risk your life like that._

_Second weekend of November is entirely empty, I will be there every second I can._

_Your darling_

(Attached, a torn copy of the Daily Prophet with a picture of the flames crawling up the storefront of Florean's, glass shattered out onto the street and witches and wizards running in the foreground.)

*******************************************

_September 26, 1996  
_

_What the hell! An attack in Diagon Alley? That's awfully bold, especially in the middle of the day. I know you said, but I have to ask: Are you all safe?_

_I think that closing earlier was very smart, safer for customers and safer for you lot. Is Cedric travelling to and from each night or has he finally moved in with George? If he's travelling, ask him to apparate. There's rumours going around here that they've found ways to snatch you from the Floo Network._

_I know, rumours aren't facts. But, rumours have to start somewhere and it's better to be safe than sorry._

_I can't wait to see you. Quidditch is wearing me into the ground. Between homework, making sure Harry's not besting me in Potions, trying to work on ideas for the shop (speaking of which, eat one of these sweets), I'm buggered._

_I will admit that I've taken to flipping through old letters of ours. I have to keep reminding myself that Hogsmeade is coming, Hogsmeade is coming..._

_Yours_

(Attached, the solution to a problem George had sent along. He'd wanted something that would make the ears of the eater grow momentarily and couldn't narrow the effects down to such a localised area--A solution Rebecca found after tirelessly testing over thirty different ratio combinations.)

*******************************************

_October 09, 1996  
Rebecca,_

_You had better be doing your homework and letting Harry lead Quidditch practises, there's no way you could possibly understand the inversions of such a complex, man's sport._

_Remain on your best behaviour, no trouble whatsoever._

_Frederick_

_P.S. Wear a scarf, it's set to snow soon. I love you._

*******************************************

"Rebecca?" Harry reached across the breakfast table and set a muffin on her plate, seeing how Potions was to start soon and she'd hardly sipped her tea. "Read later."

She shook her head, her eyes flying over the paper. "I think the mail's been compromised." Hermione leaned over, Rebecca tilting the letter so that Hermione could read it easier. "This is all the opposite, look, he even called himself 'Frederick.'"

Hermione pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at the quidditch statements, "Obviously it's the opposite, 'man's sport.'"

"He didn't say anything about-"

"No." Rebecca looked up and down the table. "Later, not here."

Harry nodded, knowing she was right. He lifted his bag up on the bench and dug around in it, pulling out a book and handing it to her with a curious glance. "You left this up in our room yesterday." Rebecca had ended up there before bed, asking Neville a few questions about some of the herbology-based terms. "Is this another thing for-"

"Later." Rebecca took the book quickly, ignoring the fact that Hermione was staring at her now. 

*******************************************

"It's bloody well 'later.'" Harry shouted, crossing his arms and blocking the girls' stairs. Rebecca had slunk back in moments previously, more books in her arms. "Sit. Room's been cleared and charmed for privacy. Explain." He pointed at the couch where Ron had his head back and was sleeping already next to Hermione and Ginny who had been talking quietly.

"Watch your tone," Rebecca warned, yawning. "I was trying to find everything I needed to explain and they weren't all exactly available for borrowing." 

Harry took a seat next to Ron who sat up quickly, muttering something about not sleeping. "About bloody time." 

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You're late." 

"We'll argue about that later." Ginny stopped Ron before he could begin. "What's going on?"

Rebecca sighed, "Remember that night Fred was in the tunnel?" Ginny and Harry nodded. Hermione tilted her head in disbelief while Ron scoffed.

"When who did what?" Hermione's shock was not abated when Rebecca gave a rushed explanation.

"Bad day, Ginny and Harry talked, day better. He never technically entered the school, don't worry." Rebecca shook her head, "But that's not my point. On my way back I heard some of the aurors talking." She lifted up an astronomy book up on the table, "Talking about the centaurs."

Ron laughed, "That's all anyone's doing nowadays. You should know, walking down to Hagrid's and all, you can hear them all day and night."

Rebecca patted the book, "Yeah, exactly. One of them, I think the boss...Swanson, if I remember right, said that Dumbledore had gotten word from the centaurs that the stars told them 'a new hero would rise.'" Rebecca took a long breath, looking to Harry. "And their celebrations center around a tree."

Harry froze, clutching his knees so hard his knuckles were whitened. 

"What's so important about a tree?" Hermione demanded, placing a hand on Harry's. "I don't understand."

Rebecca fiddled with her locket, trying to not worry about Sirius and Remus and explain what had happened over the summer. "Over the summer...I kept having this dream. It wasn't like before, my head didn't hurt and nothing was happening. It wasn't in the future."

Ginny nodded, realising what she was talking about. "You're talking about the clearing, aren't you? Why didn't you tell me that was still happening?"

"It hasn't, not since Sirius and Rems fixed it." Rebecca pointed to the locket, "They put something on this, something that was supposed to keep the outside, outside." 

Ron looked at them all confused, "We're worried because she's dreaming about a tree? Bloody hell, what's the-"

"It's not." Harry's voice was sharp. "It's not just a tree." 

Rebecca nodded, "It's _the_ tree. Where I brought the unicorn back." Ron paled, the memory one of his most haunted. "The centaurs believe that the Forbidden Forest is the place where life began--That thousands and thousands of years ago, the first centaur was formed out of the fallen branches from the oldest, wisest tree and was given life as a gift." 

Rebecca moved the top book off the stack in front of her. ""Centaurion Stories: Life, Death, and What it All Means." 

Hermione took it, seeing as it was the largest book in the stack. Rebecca continued, "Then, already knowing what tree they were talking about, I wanted to know why. That's this one: "Astronomy and Hooved-Beasts, Meaning and Reading the stars.' Yes, I know. The title is outdated but the information is up to date, I checked. When Mars' retrograde lines up with Saturn's, when Polaris is to its' sisters right, and when the moon is full, the centaur's predictions state that the 'bringer of ends' will arrive."

" _The bringer of ends?"_ Ginny asked before yanking the book off the table. 

"It doesn't sound pleasant, but it's not what I thought it was." Rebecca winced, "It's...um...Well, it's the person who brings...the end...to death..."

Harry's heart pounded in his ears and for a moment he thought he might be sick. "Why hasn't anyone brought this up? Dumbledore, McGonagall, even Madam Pomfrey! If all of this was sitting down in the library, why weren't they looking?"

Rebecca shrugged, "I'm going to bet they didn't know and they haven't had time. Most of these books were in different variations of Centaurian tribes' languages and it's not like the centaurs are treated as equals. Why would their beliefs be?"

Hermione opened her book and looked up confused, the words on the pages were drawings like hieroglyphics. "How did you even read this?"

Rebecca reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag of brightly coloured sweets, "That's why this has taken so long, I had to solve that issue first." Rebecca set the bag on the table. "Title-still-in-progress, but we've been working on a translating-sweet line. Originally I just wanted to be able to write to Fleur in French without having to do the work. But after the French Fancies worked so well--letting you understand, speak, listen, write, and think in French while you suck on it--I had to mess around with it until it worked for basic Centaurian."

Hermione stared at her, "And you've managed to do all this with everything else?"

"Yeah, I've done this, homework, quidditch, extra-curricular, and research."

Hermione mumbled something about the pranks she continued to plan, plot, and put off not being an extra-curricular activity, Rebecca ignored it. "That only leaves two things, 'A Map of Hogwarts' Surrounding Areas and Commentary,' which is where I think I've plotted the shortest course to the clearing." Ron took the book happily, feeling like he'd gotten the best of the bet since it was easily the smallest.

Harry raised his hand to cut any chance of a forest-based expedition, but Rebecca silenced him with an icy wave of her hand. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We're not going yet, I need to fill Fred in at least and I can't do that until Hogsmeade. It doesn't matter, the stars and planets aren't aligned until Spring, early May." She cleared her throat, very tired and very tired of talking. "But all that is only the background. I found something else, something that someone had hidden a long time ago." Rebecca brushed off the cover of the last book. "R.A.B, Regulus Arcturus Black. Sirius' younger brother, supposed Death Eater."

Harry had the book in hand in seconds, his jaw dropped. "Supposed?"

Rebecca nodded, "It's all there, his diaries. Professor Slughorn needed some help clearing out a Slytherin Memorandum closet and I found it. Snuck it out in my robes and read through it twice now. That's why..." She closed her eyes. "I have to take my locket off after I talk to Fred. I have to see it again. I have to talk to the tree."

The four on the couch stared at her, not saying a word and all thinking variations of, _"The bloody hell she will."_

"In there, Regulus talks about how he'd been forced to kill a muggle to be initiated as a Death Eater. He brought her back like I can, he was the tree's choice. He was chosen as hero." Rebecca yawned again, the night having grown very late. "But that's it. That's everything I've learnt. Read and talk it all over. I can't do anything yet. I promised I would update Fred and now that the mail's gone...Nothing can happen until after Hogsmeade."

*******************************************

They spent the weeks before Hogsmeade swapping the books between them, Rebecca having to make more of the translating sweets three times before all four of them had read each book. The consensus and prediction between them all, except for Rebecca who was blissfully unaware, was that Rebecca would tell Fred about it all and he'd forbid her from taking the locket off.

Did they think it would cause a fight? Yes. 

Did they care if it kept her safe? No.

Harry, after tearing through all her books, found himself reading the notes in his Potions book more and more. There were so many hints, so many tips and other magical goodies that he researched each one to see if it could help them.

"There's going to be something." Harry muttered.

"What're you going on about?" Ron asked sleepily, his head on his pillow and his arms behind it. "I was telling you about Lav's new-"

"Nothing." Harry reached over and turned the lamp off between them. Harry wanted to stay up to scour the Half-Blood Prince's scrawling handwriting, but he wouldn't if it meant having to listen to Ron gush over Brown longer. She'd been rotten to Rebecca, rotten to him, but, the final straw for Harry, was the comments she'd made about Remus. He wouldn't stand for that, not when there'd been no word on Sirius or Remus since before they'd left for Hogwarts.

If there was one thing Harry knew he was, it was protective of his family.

*******************************************

"I'm glad it's finally time." Ron remarked loudly before lowering his voice. "The four of you have been reading those bloody books so much, I feel like I'm going mad. I like a nice chat before bed, you know!"

Rebecca nudged Harry with a grin, "What're you doing, Harry? Failing your roommate duties like that!"

Harry chuckled, "I do not only read, I just happen to be reading more right now."

Ginny waved ahead to Dean and Seamus, Lee beside them. "I want to know exactly what Fred says, alright?" Rebecca rolled her eyes and nodded. Ginny went off to their classmates, but not before making Rebecca verbally promise.

"I promise, now get going!" Rebecca pulled her scarf tighter around her neck. Fred's final letter's final sentence had proven true--It had snowed the next week and stayed cold enough that it had stayed since. "Bloody freezing out here." Rebecca grumbled.

"It's not that bad." Harry argued, his head bare and only his Weasley jumper on. "Crisp."

Rebecca stared at Hermione and gestured at Harry, shaking her head in disbelief before bringing up the week's practise schedule with Ron. "One thing I don't quite understand is how you've walked around with that Potions book for weeks, practically drooling over it, and yet you don't have an inkling of curiosity over who's it was!"

"I didn't say I wasn't curious, and, I don't drool over it." Harry glanced ahead, Rebecca now walking alongside Ron. "But we have enough extra research to be doing right now without adding to it."

Hermione nodded resignedly. "She's been awfully forthright with it all. Have you noticed?"

"Forthright?" 

"Honest, truthful, bringing us any new information as soon as she finds it. Sort of uncharacteristic, isn't it?"

Harry watched Rebecca drag Ron ahead to where Professor Slughorn waved her over. "Maybe she's finally learnt that it's better this way." Hermione gave him a look. "Yeah, yeah, I know. C'mon, I heard them say butterbeer."

Rebecca was talking quickly to Slughorn, her hands waving excitedly. "It worked exactly as I said it would, Professor. I've got one on me, somewhere here..." She reached went through her pockets as she went on, talking about the process she used. "Here, bon appetit. Perfect French and, if I don't say so myself, an excellent after taste." The clock in Hogsmeade square chimed, "Damn!" She looked up shocked, "Sorry professor! That would be me now being late."

Rebecca walked away before having to turn back and hand Slughorn the candy, shaking her head and laughing. "Blimey, I'm losing my head! I'll see you all later, supper maybe. It was nice chatting with you professor!" She hurried down the road, taking minimal caution to the slipper ice patches at the idea of seeing Fred in minutes instead of the weeks she'd been facing.

"'Chatting with?'" Professor Slughorn chuckled, turning to the other three children. "I didn't get a word in edgewise!" 

As Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked at the slow, careful gait of the Potions professor, Rebecca greeted Aberforth warmly. He nodded his head at her, waving his wand at her boots so that she didn't track any snow in. "The same spot." He said gruffly, gesturing towards the back corner with the window.

Fred stood up at the sound of the door opening, just as he had twice before. Once it had been the wind, the second, a witch who looked older than Dumbledore. He broke into a smile that seemed to stretch across his entire face, Rebecca burying her face into his neck as he wrapped his arms around her. "Bloody hell, it's been too long." He said, turning his head into her hair. "Far too long."

Rebecca put her hand on his cheek and lifted her head so that she could kiss him, to which she did extensively a long moment. When they were apart again, Fred motioned for her to climb into the booth. Instead of sitting on the other bench, he sat next to her and grinned, kissing her again quickly. 

"First," Fred started, pulling out a little paper from his coat pocket. "George and Ced send the following, 'It's been too long, we miss you. You should drop out, not like you're busy or anything.'" Fred's eyes drifted away from the note to watch her laugh. His breath caught as the sound left her mouth like a song, her hair falling away from her face. If he had to pick a moment of time to be stuck in, he thought that he might pick right then: The white light shining in from the snow making her skin look like it had been carved out of marble, her scars seeming more visible in contrast to her alabaster cheeks. It occurred to Fred that he couldn't quite remember her face without the hooked line around her eye, that he wasn't sure if he'd want to if he could.

It was alarmingly attractive. It made her look fierce. It showed that she wasn't going to be stopped, not by anyone or anything. It drove him mad.

"Is that all?" Rebecca asked softly, slightly concerned about the way Fred had zoned out staring at her. 

"No," Fred cleared his throat, collecting his thoughts. "I have instructions to bring back details of all Hermione-Unapproved activities."

Rebecca slid her arms out of her coat, placing her hat on the table in front of them. "I wouldn't want to disobey a direct order." Fred's mouth hung open, exactly as it had for the minutes that had passed as Rebecca filled him in. "But that was last week. This week...Let's see. First there was the Hufflepuff and the Colour-Comb. Still working on it, their hair was supposed to go blue, not their skin. Oh! I was messing around with dung bombs." Rebecca made a face, "Dangerous task, in case you were wondering. I wanted to make one that followed you, dispersing more as you ran."

Fred raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And, I think it will require a few more test runs. But it'll be finished before the holidays."

Fred took her hand, shaking his head in disbelief. "When do you have time to sleep?" Rebecca's eyes widened slightly. Fred pursed his lips, knowing her too well to let such a tell go without noticing. "What is it?"

She sighed. "It's a lot."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Fred placed his other hand around hers, holding them tightly as Rebecca launched into the explanation she'd been rehearsing in her head. What she'd heard from the aurors, what she'd learned from the centaur legends, Regulus' journal, and, finally, the 'hero's return.' "I wasn't expecting that." Fred sat back in the bench, his hands never leaving hers.

"And that's why I have to sleep without the locket, so that I can get back to the clearing."

Fred scoffed. "Like you haven't already."

Rebecca was taken aback. She slide her hands out from his and turned in the bench so that she was facing him. "No, I haven't." Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows, "I told you that I would keep you aware of what was going on before I did anything potentially-mental."

Fred heard how serious she was. "You haven't?"

"I said I would-well, not ask. I'm not asking." Rebecca paused, trying to figure out what to say next. "I wanted to make sure you knew before I did anything. The others...They think this is mad and that I shouldn't do anything except pretend I never found this all out." Rebecca shrugged. "I wanted to know what you thought, I guess."

Fred took her hands back and brought the backs of them up to his mouth, holding them against his lips a moment. "I'm sorry." He turned on the bench too, grabbing her leg and pulling her closer to him. He sighed, "I want to agree with them, believe me. I'd love to pretend none of this was just said." 

"But?"

"But I can't. I think that you need to try without the locket once and, if that doesn't work, I think you need to go to Dumbledore and layout what you've found--demand some answers."

"You're not just trying to get me expelled so I can stay at the shop, are you?" Rebecca asked jokingly before growing serious again. "Thank you." He looked on at her, not sure what he was being thanked for. "For believing me. For believing in me."

Fred winked, making both of them laugh lightly. "Want to get out of here?" He stood up as she nodded, grabbing her hat from where she'd left it. He pulled it over her head, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he made it even and over the tops of her ears. Aberforth grunted his farewell, listening as the oldest witch they'd ever seen started talking about the formation of the Tories.

"Yeah, I've got someone I'd like you to meet."

*******************************************

"Tonks?" Fred asked incredulously. "I know her already."

"You." Tonks rolled her eyes at Fred and pulled Rebecca into a hug. "Yes I know you, far more than I'd like to, if I'm honest."

"Let's not be then." Rebecca giggled and looked around. "He's right though, we weren't expecting you."

Tonks grimaced, "The Order's agreed that this was the only way we could get news to those of you at Hogwarts, mail as it is and all." 

Rebecca's hands tightened around Fred's. "It's about _them,_ isn't it."

Tonks nodded, holding her wand up and mouthing a few spells. "Momentary privacy, you can't risk being seen with me for long anyway. Sirius and Remus got word out a few days ago, they're holed up somewhere in Eastern Russia. They'd been called away to convince one of the more nomadic packs of free-range wizards to our side and they...disagreed...to put it lightly."

"But they're okay, right?" Rebecca's tone was strong, but there was a hint of desperation to it.

"Of course they are." Tonks' voice was gruff. "Bunch a hippies aren't going to stop those two."

Fred shook their hands, drawing Rebecca's attention to him. "Laugh, now."

The two women tittered like he'd told a joke, though anyone who knew Rebecca would have known how false it was. "Tonks, we'll talk later. Rebecca, I'll get word to you the second I get word." Tonks nodded and stepped away, the shadows of onlookers in the mouth of the alley scattering as quickly as they'd formed.

Inside the Three Broomsticks, Ron was moaning and groaning because Ginny was in the back with Seamus and Dean. The issue, as he repeatedly told Harry and Hermione, was that she and Anthony Goldstein were engaged in a romantic exchange rivaling precious little. "That slick git." Ron crossed his arms. "I'd like to leave."

Harry was too busy watching the back of Professor Slughorn's head across the room. The older man had accompanied them so far, but insisted he greet the man cleaning behind the bar before joining them for a drink. "That's absurd!"

"That happens to be my sister." Ron said his refute like it was obvious what the reason was.

"Rebecca's been far more public with Fred." Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "What if she looked over here and saw you snogging me? Would you expect her to get up and leave?"

Ron glowered, his cheeks reddening at his interpretation of her mentioning of Rebecca. To him, Hermione was insinuating that he cared more for Ginny than Rebecca, far from what Hermione had meant. "We're not talking about Rebecca, now are we?" Hermione visibly shrunk back at Ron's tone. "Fred--Merlin help me--Is a good person, a good man. That git? Goldstein? He doesn't care for her. He doesn't-"

"My boy! Thank you for excusing me." Professor Slughorn clapped Hermione on the shoulder, interrupting Ron's monologue. "Good chum of mine, that is. You know, go back a lot farther than I care to admit. I actually taught his-" The door to the pub was opened and caught by the galing wind, a loud clatter turning all faces to the noise. 

"I know, I know. We do look quite dashing." Fred raised his hand as if he was addressing an audience. "We're not just here to be gawked at though." The pub laughed and soon was back to their previous conversations. Rebecca and Fred had walked mostly in quiet, serious conversation, but had ended up on the same page--It didn't really matter what happened as long as they knew the other was okay.

"You brought me to meet a professor?" Fred hissed, putting on a grand smile and shaking Slughorn's reaching hand. Clearly, the man would not allow time for Rebecca to answer. "Fred Weasley, sir. Pleasure to meet you." Fred put his arm around Rebecca's shoulder, smiling. "I've heard a lot about you."

Professor Slughorn grinned deviously, glancing at Rebecca. "You have. Pray tell, Mister Weasley, what exactly is my name?" Fred blanked, obviously not knowing. "I'm only ribbing you! Pull up a chair, I was just telling Harry here about the Slug Club." 

Harry looked at Horace confused, "You were, sir?"

"Yes. In the past, I used to throw together the occasional supper party for the select student or two. Would you two be game?"

Harry answered for the both of them, clinging to the idea he was begging whatever cosmic forces existed that the information Slughorn had, the information that Dumbledore needed, had something to do with disproving the Centaur's lore. "We'd be honoured!"

Slughorn smiled, "You'd be welcome to, Granger."

Hermione was startled away from her butterbeer. "I'd be delighted!"

Horace clapped his hands, "Splendid. Look for my owl." He never even gave Ron a look, only sullying his mood further. 

Fred leaned back his chair so that it was on two legs, talking to Ron quietly behind Harry and Rebecca who were now being interrogated by Hermione. "What are you two doing?"

"Dumbledore's asked us to get to know him." Harry explained without offering more detail.

Rebecca leaned forward and took a sip of Harry's drink, ignoring his protests. "It's one of those things we aren't allowed to know." Fred sat back, putting his arm back around her. 

"How're you and the others?" Hermione asked quietly.

Fred nodded, "They're all good. Mum's going absolutely mental. Dad's trying to keep her calm. George's trying to convince Cedric to go with his mum to America to hide this all out-"

"He's what?" Rebecca turned to Fred. "It's not because of-"

Fred nodded once, "Yes, there are rumours." Concern dragged Ron out of his mood, his head leaning closer to Harry so that he could hear clearly. "The Diggory's are facing hiding or surrendering themselves to the Order for guard. Ced's return...It's no longer being called an accident."

Draco exited the loo across the way and Fred's voice fell flat. His arm tightened around Rebecca meaningfully, his eyes tearing through Draco's. Draco didn't mean to stop, but his feet seemed to be planted into the wooden floor. "Say the word and I'll do it."

Rebecca laid a hand on his thigh, turning her head away from the Slytherin. "I know you will." Rebecca kissed the bottom of his neck, causing him to look down to her. "But don't."

Hermione stared directly ahead, fighting the urge to turn around to see the terror that was undoubtedly crossing Malfoy's face. She lifted her butterbeer to her mouth, sipping at the warm liquid as she waited to hear the jingling of the door closing behind him.

Rebecca snorted, turning her head into Fred's arm without explanation. Harry scratched above his lip, hoping that Hermione would understand. Ron used his thumb to wipe on his mouth where Hermione's was currently laden with foam. "You've got a little-yeah, right there."

Hermione wiped it quickly, turning the conversation to Fred. "I take it you've been briefed."

Rebecca giggled, "Briefs." Hermione's eye roll threatened the gravity of the moon, the cheek evident to a nearly dangerous potency.

Fred let his head tilt so that it was on top of Rebecca's, his thumb rubbing along the outside of her arm slowly. "I've been informed, yes."

"And?" Harry asked, looking at Fred warily. "You did put an end to it, right? This madness?"

Fred smiled chastisingly, "Harry, you really put far too much faith in me and far too little in your sister." Fred kissed the top of Rebecca's head before addressing all three of them. "You misunderstand, our promise wasn't to ask permission of each other--We're smart enough to know that would never work out. Aware and informed, those were the goals."

Ron sighed heavily, "He's not saying no, whipped like a bloody horse."

*******************************************

Author's Note:

Sorry this has taken a little longer than expected! Welcome to the end of the first full chapter solely of 'Love?' 'Yes, Darling?'!

<3


	7. CHAPTER 2

**"I know, I know. But you're missed."** Rebecca kissed Fred sweetly before he could refuse to say hi to another student on their way out of the Three Broomsticks. First Nigel had gone to their table. Then Louis appeared a few minutes later. Then Yara. By the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione had finished their drinks and were ready to start the snowy walk back up to the castle, Rebecca and Fred were conversed out.

"I'm making George close shop and come next time." Fred warned. "He lives for this."

"Like you don't like a little bit of fame." Rebecca teased.

Fred grabbed her hand and turned her back to him, gazing down at her with a heat growing behind his eyes. "Not when it's taking away from my time with you."

Rebecca stared into his eyes for a moment, the brown depths seeming darker, more exciting, more alluring than ever before. "Christmas will be here soon enough."

"And?" Fred brought a hand up to the back of her neck, his other held against her hip.

"And we'll have plenty of time for that." 

*******************************************

"This is it." Fred said flatly as they stopped at the entrance to the walkway from Hogsmeade back to Hogwarts. He stepped around her until his back was facing the other three and kissed her deeply, wiping at her cheek before the others could see. Fred kissed her temple, lowering his voice so that only she could hear it. "Don't."

"I'm sorry."

Fred shook his head abruptly. "Don't be sorry either." Fred cleared his throat, finding it a little hoarse at the thought of how quickly their time together had come to an end. "But definitely don't be sad."

"You've got the notes, the sweets, and you're going to tell everyone that I-"

"Love and miss them. Yes, you've made your instructions very, very clear." Fred glanced over his shoulder at how the others were shuffling in the snow, waiting to get going. "Check the tunnel. That's where I'll leave news when I hear anything."

Rebecca nodded, holding a cold hand to the side of his face and kissing him again. "I'll leave more there then. Be safe."

"I will if you are." Fred took a step away and walked away from backwards. "I love you."

"I love you too!" 

Hermione stepped to Rebecca's side and put her arm through hers, watching as Fred waved one last time before apparating away. "Ready to head back?"

Rebecca forced a laugh, "Yeah, bloody freezing out here."

Hermione lead Rebecca a few feet ahead of Harry and Ron, wanting to hear more about what Fred had thought after being informed.

"Did you hear her back there?" Ron whispered. "About me and her snogging?" Harry nodded, wiping his face as if snow had landed on him to hide a smirk. "As if." 

Harry wanted to indulge Ron in being a more attentive listener, but he couldn't help hurrying ahead so that he was next to the girls. It had occurred to Harry that it might be better if she and Fred just didn't see each other between breaks, so that they didn't have to part more than needed, but Harry knew that was impossible.

Harry put his arm around Hermione, Rebecca putting hers around Ron. "Don't go worrying, any of you." She chastised, giving them a small smile.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, because we-"

Ahead of them, a scream tore through the air. All four of them rushed ahead, their wands in hand. "I warned her! I told her not to-!" Another scream escaped Katie's body from where it lay sprawled out on her back and she slid to the side roughly.

Rebecca turned around, seeing a familiar pink-streaked head apparating to the entrance of the walk way and running towards them. When she faced the front again, she saw Katie get lifted into the air. Her arms were held out on either side of her and her mouth was opened, her eyes flitting around fearfully.

As quickly as she'd risen, Katie was thrown back to the ground forcefully. "Get back, all of you!" Tonks pushed past them, pointing back a few feet. Tonks held a hand to the girl's neck, nodding as she found a pulse. Rebecca broke from the group, stepping forward to the box that Katie had opened. "Do not touch that." Tonks motioned to the area around it. "The wrappings only, do you understand?"

Rebecca nodded and scooped it up carefully, holding it away from her body. Tonks put an arm under Katie's neck and lifted her easily, surprising them. They fell into a silent procession with Tonks at the head all the way to the castle's entrance where Tonks brought Katie to the Hospital Wing and McGonagall ordered the rest of them into their office.

McGonagall cleared her desk in an instant, motioning for Rebecca to put it down immediately. After a brief filling in, McGonagall looked to Leanne.

"You're sure Katie did not have this in her possession before entering the Three Broomsticks?" 

Leanne's face was marred with tracks left by the tears that had finally stopped falling. "It's like I said. She left to go to the loo, she came back with the package. She...she said that it was 'important that she deliver it.'"

McGonagall tilted her head, "Did she say to whom?"

"To Professor Dumbledore."

McGonagall took a sharp breath. "Thank you. That will be all, Leanne. You may go." Rebecca watched Leanne leave, finding the power of McGonagall's gaze too much to face head on. "Why is it when something happens is is always you four?"

Ron sighed, "Believe me professor, I've been asking myself the same question for six years."

"Severus!" McGonagall talked to the professor quietly a moment before he lifted the necklace and inspected it carefully. "What do you think?"

Snape tutted, narrowing his eyes at the gaudy, blue and black encrusted necklace. "I think Miss Bell is lucky to be alive."

"She was cursed, wasn't she." Rebecca's words included a question, but her tone did not. "I know Katie, off the pitch she wouldn't hurt a fly." Rebecca shook her head, "If she was delivering that to Dumbledore, she wasn't doing it knowingly."

"Yes, she was cursed." McGonagall looked at the necklace once more before turning towards them.

Harry raised his head. "It was Malfoy."

McGonagall's eyes were wide. "That is a very serious accusation, Mister Potter."

Snape straightened immediately, lowering the necklace back onto the case he'd raised it from. "Indeed. Your evidence?"

Harry gritted his teeth. "I just know." Hermione winced.

"You just...know." Snape smiled cruelly. "Once again, you astonish me with your gifts Potter. Gifts such as I, a mere mortal, can only dream of possessing. How grand you two are. How it must be to be the Chosen Ones."

McGonagall's eyes flitted to Snape a brief moment, confused as to the malice he spat into 'the Chosen Ones.' "I suggest you return to your dormitories. All of you."

Rebecca stayed a moment longer, Harry storming out the second McGonagall had finished speaking. Her eyes bore into Snape's, green eyes lit with such a fury Snape found himself transported to his past. Hermione pulled Rebecca's wrist, leading her from the room. "You go on ahead." Rebecca looked down the corridor to the stairway that would lead to the Hospital Wing, "I want to check on Katie."

"Madam Pomfrey's not going to let you disturb her." Hermione sighed, "But you know that, don't you?"

Rebecca shrugged, "It's the effort that counts." 

Hermione nodded, "Fine." She turned to Harry and Ron, "You two go on up and we'll go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm more than capable-"

"Good idea." Harry interrupted. 

Ron grumbled something as they walked away, something about being dismissed, but Rebecca and Hermione were already going the opposite direction. "I could have come by myself." 

Hermione nodded, "Yes, you could have." They climbed the stairs slowly, Hermione still adamant that Fred had to have reacted differently than Rebecca had said. "So he's just accepted this? With the tree and the stories and the tree?"

Rebecca turned at the top of the stairs, the windows along the revealing that the snow that started earlier continued slowly. "Accepted what?" Rebecca shook her head, "Hermione, everything I 'learnt' could be wrong or off or...or nothing! It could all be nothing." Hermione walked quietly a few steps, waiting for Rebecca to say what she was clearly forming. "And, again, I wasn't asking for permission. I will do what I think is best."

"And what if we think it isn't? What about what your friends think?"

Rebecca pursed her lips, "It's taken into consideration."

"Oh no! Out you both get!" Madam Pomfrey's commanding voice ended Hermione's follow up, especially since the healer was suddenly in front of them and steering them back towards the door.

"I have to speak with them, Poppy." Tonks stood up from the chair next to Katie's bed, the young witch looking older than Rebecca had ever seen her. 

"Outside. This is a room of rest and quiet," Madam Pomfrey eyeballed Rebecca, a hint of amusement playing on her face. "Not qualities that tend to follow this crowd."

Tonks offered a weak smile before Madam Pomfrey closed the door on them. _"Muffliato."_ Tonks gestured to the space around them. "There, we can speak freely." Tonks first demanded to know if they were alright. Upon two affirmatives, Tonks' relief was evident. "Good. That's good."

"What's the Order saying?" Rebecca asked quietly, she'd never been on the other side of a silencing spell and wasn't sure if it muffled or masked their words entirely.

"Nothing good. Such an obvious attempt at Hogwarts? It doesn't bode well." Tonks held a hand to the bridge of her nose, her pink strips growing darker. 

"But it didn't work, did it? That's got to show something." 

Tonks shook her head at Hermione, "All it means is that they, whomever they are, are going to try again." Tonks' eyes flitted between the two girls, "I'm making you two swear this because I know those boys haven't half the sense between them as you both do alone: _Don't go anywhere on your own."_ Rebecca raised an eyebrow, prompting Tonks to continue. "You don't really think Dumbledore is Voldemort's only enemy at Hogwarts, do you?"

Hermione's breath caught as Tonks plainly alluded to the fact that Harry and Rebecca were prime targets as well. "You can't know that."

Tonks humourlessly smiled at Hermione, "Come now, Granger. I just said you had sense."

Hermione looked away, ashamed. "I mean do you have any proof? Besides the centaurs and the-"

"What do you know about that?" Tonks demanded.

"That's rich!" Rebecca didn't tolerate the accusatory tone used towards Hermione. It made her quite angry to hear Tonks speak so harshly when Hermione hadn't done anything to deserve it. "You want to know what we do? We know what we've figured out on our own, since the Order doesn't trust us enough to tell us anything!"

Tonks grabbed Rebecca's arm, pulling her closer. "I would tell you lot everything in the world, but then I won't be told anything. What good is it if we're both in the dark? Now tell me what you know. And don't bother lying."

Rebecca pulled her arm back, "The centaurs are having a celebration."

"And?"

"And it's got something to do with Voldemort." Rebecca took a breath, saying nothing else. "Care to fill in the blanks?"

Tonks narrowed her eyes at the two sixth years, boring holes in the back of Rebecca's skull. "No. Get out of here before you bring Poppy down on all of us." Rebecca and Hermione moved to the edge of the area Tonks had charmed. 

"Rebecca?" Rebecca turned back, noting the smirk playing along Tonks' lips. "That was good."

*******************************************

"What does Goldstein even see in her anyway?" Ron demanded, his hands clasped over his chest like he was in his coffin. "It's Ginny!"

Harry had the Marauders' Map help open on his chest, tracing Hermione and Rebecca's path as they made their way back to the common room after standing outside the Hospital Wing with Tonks for what seemed like ages. "What does she see in him?" Harry asked as he ran over the boring Hufflepuff in his head. His head was far too long, his nose too short, his arms resembling a dinosaurs in comparison to the rest of his body. All in all, the boy was unimpressive.

"Anthony? He's fine."

Harry rolled his eyes, turning the map to the back side and seeing Draco's footsteps wandering down the hall. "You called him a slick git five hours ago."

"That was when he had his hands all over my sister, you understand. Something snaps, you've got to hate him. You know, don't you?"

Harry sighed, "I'd like to say yes, but I don't. Not really. Rebecca's made it far too clear that she's got it handled." Harry paused a moment, "But it doesn't matter anyway. I think she and Fred are right for each other."

Ron nodded and brought the conversation back to his original topic. "So what do you think Goldstein sees in her?"

"I don't know. She's smart, funny. Attractive."

Ron's brow furrowed as he looked at Harry from the side of his eyes. "Attractive?"

Harry looked up from the map, realising he'd said the last word out loud. "You know, she's got nice skin."

"You're saying he's dating my sister because of her skin?"

"No! I'm just-I'm saying it could be a contributing factor."

Ron thought on that for a minute. "Hermione's got nice skin. Wouldn't you say? As skin goes."

Harry glanced at Ron who was staring up at the roof of his bed canopy. "I've never really thought about it. Yeah, I suppose."

*******************************************

"Knocked up and knocking down my door!" Caractacus Burke laughed loudly, sloshing his drink on to the table in front of him. At the end of the next week, Harry and Rebecca had been summoned for another lesson with Dumbledore, exactly where they found themselves standing in the memory of a grimy bar similar to the Hog's Head. 

If, Rebecca thought, Aberforth wasn't secretly a softy and he summoned enough dirt to fill the Thames. 

"Got this ugly beast from the Gaunt woman, Merope." The man lifted a necklace up over the counter for the crowd around him to see. "Some relic, 'possed to go back to Salazar Slytherin."

"What's she pawning fer?" The man next to him lolled drunkly, "Ain't she wi' that Riddle?"

Caractacus threw his head back and laughed louder than before. "He split! Apparently she'd been slipping a little potion in his juice!" The man wiped his eye, his laughter drawing tears. "Now she's got the bastard and he's back where he came from."

"That's Tom they're talking about, isn't it?" Harry asked Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore nodded, pointing to the locket the man held over his head. "You've seen him as a child, I wanted you to see what he came from." The memory ended. When Rebecca and Harry lifted their faces from the cool water of the pensieve, they were back in Dumbledore's office. 

Rebecca wiped her face quickly, walking back and forth as she thought. "What happened to Merope? Why'd he end up in the orphanage?"

Dumbledore eased himself back into his chair, holding his blackened hand against his chest. "Merope Gaunt passed in childbirth, leaving Tom to a harsh and loveless youth."

Rebecca snorted, "I don't feel badly for him. Harsh? Loveless? No excuse." Rebecca stopped pacing and turned towards Harry and Dumbledore. Harry was watching her carefully. She didn't talk about her childhood, not usually. With the darkened atmosphere of Hogwarts though, she had found herself reminded of the gloom that had been her life before the Weasleys. First it was the slinking gait of the first years, creeping out of the common room to face the day before they could scurry back to the homes they'd made in Gryffindor Tower. She fixed that quickly though. Pranks seemed to follow her like shadows did beneath clouds, though they were all harmless and only meant to bring some laughter and happiness back into the castle.

Rebecca sighed and Harry knew what she was going to bring up next. Harry had asked her, begged her really, to wait to do anything until they'd had their next meeting with Dumbledore and could ask for some answers. Harry thought he'd get a few weeks of peace, but by the end of the next day they'd been summoned. "There's something else I have to ask, professor."

Dumbledore chuckled and took out a bag of sweets. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

Harry took a sweet and tossed it up into the air, catching it expertly. "Well, you see." Rebecca didn't expect to start with a jest from the headmaster. "You've thrown me off my step." Rebecca took a seat and popped the sweet Harry offered from his hand begrudgingly. 

"You want to know if you should remove the guards between yourself and Wollstone's Wood. Don't you?"

"The what?" Rebecca sat up straighter, "Is that what the tree's called?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, I trust you will research it and its lore further."

Rebecca looked up quickly, "Sir?"

"Very, very little goes on in this castle that I am not privy to." Harry laughed, ignoring the look Rebecca shot him.

"Is it true? The centaurian history books-"

Dumbledore leaned forward curiously, "I did say 'very little.' Where did you learn centaurian? That's a feat even I have yet to master entirely."

Rebecca smirked, "I didn't." She explained the French Fancies and how she'd been tampering with the ingredients for other applications--Resulting in the Centaur translation. "I've been keeping one on me in case I find myself near the library. You can...have it? If you want? I've got it somewhere."

Dumbledore nodded quickly, holding the bag with the single, red coloured hard candy to the light. "How resourceful."

Rebecca thanked him, "That wasn't all, professor. I wanted to ask you about-"

"We shan't answer all the universe's questions in one night, no? I'm afraid I'll have to ask you two see yourself out--I'm feeling quite knackered. I will send word when we are to meet again."

Harry followed Rebecca out of his office, grinning at her. "You shocked Dumbledore. That's got to make you happy."

Rebecca shrugged, wishing she'd be able to run upstairs and tell Fred and George about it. "It's alright."

Harry sighed, turning down the stairs instead of up. "Let's go, you'll only end up walking back tonight if you don't." Rebecca walked quicker, relieved that he'd not-very-subtley offered to walk down to the Hogsmeade tunnel to see if Fred had left a letter yet. "Go on, I'll keep watch."

Harry ducked against the wall, watching as she illuminated her wand and went to the box that hadn't been there the day before. Inside, a long scroll of parchment. Rebecca ran out of the tunnel, the scroll tucked safely under her arm until she could open it in the safety and privacy of her room. "Have I told you I loved you lately?"

*******************************************

"Fred finally left word." Harry whispered to Ron as he climbed into bed that night. "Rebecca looked like it was Christmas."

Ron chuckled, "What'd he say?"

Harry's grin turned to a childish pout. "I don't know. She said she wanted to read it in privacy and she'd tell all of us tomorrow."

Ron scoffed, "Right, like she's not over there telling Hermione and Ginny right now." Harry pulled his Advanced Potions book out of his drawer, sliding his glasses back on. "Again?"

Harry sighed, "Yes, Ron. There's a lot in here, a lot we haven't covered. Never know when it will come in handy."

*******************************************

Rebecca stared at the scroll, sitting on the edge of the tub while Hermione and Ginny whispered out in the room. Her thumb traced over the wax seal, toying at the idea of tearing it open but not able to make herself.

"It's just a letter, dullard. Open it and stop being a bloody baby." Rebecca muttered to herself. 

Truth was, she was afraid to. She'd spent so long telling the others that she'd take whatever course of action she thought was best but if Fred had changed his mind, if he'd asked her not to, she wasn't sure if she would be able to.

There was a soft rapping at the door. "Becs?" Ginny's voice was muffled. "Good or bad?"

Rebecca stood up and opened the door, not surprised to find Hermione and Ginny standing directly outside. "I-" She handed the scroll over. "I can't."

Ginny nodded and took it while Hermione took a seat on Rebecca's bed and motioned for her to follow. Once sitting, Hermione put her head on Rebecca's shoulder and watched as Ginny lifted the seal. Ginny read over it a moment before Hermione cleared her throat. "Out loud?"

Ginny laughed, "Oh, yes. Forgot."

 _"Love,"_ Ginny made a face before reading on.

_"I'm sorry this has taken so long. Voldemort's on the move, this time after any history that isn't about pure blooded lineages. Entire wizarding libraries have been destroyed. Record buildings leveled. That made research a little difficult. I couldn't find much. It's too dangerous to get into the Ministry right now to look further._

_I want to know what you've learnt. I need to know. We'll deal with it together, like we said._

_Tunnel. November 14. Midnight._

_No news on the other front, though mum says there's no two people in the world who are more capable of handling trouble. I know this will worry you, but I want you to remember that R and S have gone through a lot worse._

_I love you more than you can know,  
Fred"_

Ginny looked up nervously, "That's not bad, right?" Rebecca shook her head before bursting into tears. Hermione grabbed the tissues off the nightstand without turning, Ginny jumping onto the other side of her. "If it's not bad..."

Rebecca breathed in relief, fully having expected the worst and finding nervous laughter bubbling up out of her. "It's perfect. It's exactly what I should have known he'd say."

Hermione glanced at Rebecca, "So you're going to try?"

Rebecca nodded, wiping her face before getting up. "Tonight."

*******************************************

_"So you've returned." The voice in the clearing spoke in Rebecca's mind clearly, the voice exuding power in every syllable._

_"It seems I've got no choice, I have too many questions that I can't answer." Rebecca turned in a slow circle, answering out loud. "What is Wollstone's Wood?"_

_"That is I, child." The eyes on the tree opened slowly, vast and knowledgeable. "Sit and ask, I shall answer."_

_Rebecca bent down onto the winding roots, glancing around nervously. "With the truth?"_

_The tree's chuckle purveyed her mind, "To answer without the truth isn't to answer at all, is it?"_

_"Who are you?" Rebecca demanded, ignoring the word games._

_The tree's eyes closed a long moment, sadness flashing across Rebecca's mind. Sadness that wasn't her own. "I am the last one to care. Look around, all these trees, this forest. Once, eons ago, magic wasn't just in us. Magic was around us. It permeated the air, more present in some areas than other. Why else do you think Hogwarts stands where it does?" The tree's branches rearranged. Rebecca suddenly had the image of an old woman adjusting herself on her rocker. "My name was Wilhomena and this forest was once the ground in which we, the witches, gave up our earthly lives to form these grounds."_

_"What does that even mean?"_

_"There has always been darkness. There has always been, there always will be."_

_Rebecca hated the half answers, hated that with every word she only ended up with more questions. "Could you bring people back from the dead?" Rebecca couldn't help but glance at her hands. "Did you mark them?"_

_Wilhomena's answer was quick, "Why else would I have brought you here?" The clearing fell silent a short moment. "It's hard. I have to bring myself out of a level of unconsciousness you cannot imagine to converse like this. I will not be able to reach you every night."_

_"Then talk quickly."_

_Wilhomena's eyes sparkled, a strange image to see on a tree. "Yes, I brought back my child when he was but an infant. A fever had hold of him and I couldn't sit idle. Later, when he was still not a man, he was taken from this world by those who thought magic ought be restricted and given to some while barred from others--My own time's act of evil. He was felled in the greatest battle of my life, defending those who couldn't defend themselves. Many passed that day. That was the day this forest was formed."_

_Rebecca glanced around, knowing how vast the Forbidden Forest was. "More trees in this forest were once magic than not. Before the magic was scattered, we let it into us and relinquished all control. Magic itself deemed we become the guardians. The others...There has always been the option to fade away into oblivion. But I once faced a life without my son and I refused it, I will not change my stance now." The tree's voice grew in volume. "You have brought back more in your short life than those before you, and there have been a few with powers envied by many. Act in caution, you cannot give more than you have."_

_Rebecca mulled over her words, knowing what she was going to ask next. "There's more I have to know." The branches sank lower, though Wilhomena's voice did not argue, despite the obvious tax this was taking on her. "What did you do to Regulus Black?"_

_"Regulus...Regulus was my greatest failure." Wilhomena's voice was softer than it ever had been and Rebecca couldn't tell if it was from emotion or exertion. "He called for me, he needed my guidance in his darkest hour and I didn't have the strength to respond. I watched, unable to help, unable to aid, as he perished in the very way I was leading him away from."_

_"How?"_

_"You must understand, I am not here on my own volition._

_**When the one who can mark has gone,  
When the darkness is done,  
When life and death are pawns no longer and  
When magic is once again stronger-  
One will rise. One who will bring about the end of ends--  
At a cost one cannot comprehend.** _

_Wilhomena met Rebecca's eyes when she was done reciting the prophecy Rebecca assumed the aurors and the centaurs had known about. "That is my task: To lead the One."_

_Rebecca stood up, shouting at her. At a cost one cannot comprehend? "I don't want this! I won't do it!"_

_Wilhomena's voice grew in intensity, "And yet, you have it and you will do what is needed of you. The One always will." The tree shuddered roughly and the clearing wobbled in front of Rebecca's eyes. "We cannot change our fates. I cannot stay longer."_

_"How will you reach me again?"_

_Wilhomena's eyes crinkled in an amused expression, no mouth needed. "Child, a charm cannot stop me. I knew you would need answers before long. I first sensed you after the unicorn, though after you brought back the boy I started pooling my strength. I've kept the worst of the premonitions away."_

_"Were those always because of this?"_

_"They plagued more of those who fit the One's prophecy than not, though their strength fades with age. Go now, your friends are worried. We will speak again."_

*******************************************

"Think she did it?" Ginny whispered in the early morning. Rebecca hadn't moved an inch all night. 

Hermione sat up and peeked at Rebecca's bed. "I don't know." Ginny climbed out of her bed and crawled up Hermione's until she lay next to her. "She's going to be fine. Always is."

Rebecca's eyes fluttered open and she blinked rapidly, sitting up. Hermione and Ginny were in front of her with a scramble, both asking questions louder to be heard over the other. 

Rebecca put her glasses on and ran over everything that had happened, reaching for the parchment and pen on Hermione's desk. "It was a lot."

"A lot." Ginny echoed. "What the bloody hell does 'a lot' mean."

Rebecca explained as she wrote a list of everything that she would have to tell Fred the next time they met. "At a cost one cannot comprehend."

Hermione stared at Rebecca, waiting for more of an explanation. "And?"

"And what? That was it. That's the end of the prophecy." Rebecca stood up and stretched, her muscles sore after not moving all night. "Breakfast?" Hermione and Ginny caught each other's eyes as Rebecca pulled out robes for the day. "We haven't got all day, Slughorn's dessert is tonight!"

"She's being weird, isn't she? More so than usual?" Ginny whispered as Hermione pulled out her own robes.

Harry and Ron, upon reading the letter to Fred to be filled in, found that Ginny was entirely correct. Rebecca continued about her day like it was any other. Charms went excellently, Transfiguration ended with a massive assignment of homework, Defence Against the Dark Arts gave her two more insults to add to the 'Best Snape's called me' list.

And it wasn't an act. After hearing from Wilhomena, after hearing the prophecy she knew what she was dealing with now. It wasn't a mystery--at least, not as much as it had been--and of course 'a cost one cannot comprehend' scared her senseless. But, she refused to think about it. And, like most problems, refusing to deal with it made it future Rebecca's problem.

*******************************************

Dessert at Slughorn's that night proved a nearly painfully dull event. Dessert was spectacular, gigantic bowls of ice cream coated with chocolate and candied walnuts. The conversation, however, was from from entertaining.

Cormac was there and had already been asked about his father, some Ministry-Goody goody. Rebecca wasn't really listening. Then another boy who'd been inhaling his ice cream was asked about his uncle, though since he didn't stop eating it was difficult to understand him.

"What exactly does your family do in the muggle world, Miss Granger?" Professor Slughorn turned the conversation to Hermione.

Hermione sat up straighter, disliking the way Cormac was eyeing her. Neville, on the other side of Rebecca, glanced at Hermione before turning his attention back to Rebecca. "You alright?"

Rebecca nodded, quietly answering as Hermione told Slughorn that her parents were dentists. "Great, why?"

Neville tilted his head, taking another bite before answering. "Just asking, you seem off."

"One boy, Robbie Fenwick, he bit my father. Needed ten stitches!"

Rebecca gave Neville a smile, "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Neville shrugged, "I've got biscuits and Ron hasn't found these. If you ever feel like talking about anything...I'm a good listener."

The door squeaking as it opened ended their conversation and that between Slughorn and Hermione, thankfully. The way Harry was smirking and Hermione was stifling laughter, Rebecca was embarrassed to ask what a dentist was. Ginny entered the room slowly, clearly having been crying from her red eyes.

"Miss Weasley! Come in, come in." 

Hermione sighed and turned to Rebecca. "Look, she and Anthony have been fighting again."

Harry stook up jerkily, pushing his chair back with his knees as Ginny pulled her chair out. "I'm not usually late." Ginny explained, looking at Harry curiously. Harry turned his head, looking around the table at the rest of the men who made no movement to stand even though a lady was joining them. Harry's cheeks were dusted with a blush, and if Rebecca could hear his heart, she would have heard how it quickened at Ginny's evening-wear.

"You're just in time for dessert, if Belby's left you any." The table laughed and Harry sat back down as Ginny did.

Rebecca snorted, masking it with a drink of water. _"So that's how Fred and I looked."_ Hermione looked away from Harry as he turned on her. "What?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Nothing." 

When dessert was finished, Rebecca and Harry motioned for Hermione and Ginny to go on ahead. The girls nodded, Hermione happy that Ginny would have the opportunity to talk about whatever she and Anthony were in a row about without Rebecca threatening violence.

Slughorn turned back into the classroom, gasping in shock at Harry and Rebecca still being inside. Harry's tie was loosened and his appearance showing the hours that had passed while Rebecca in her dress looked exactly as she had when they'd left a pouting Ron in the common room earlier.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Rebecca explained sweetly. "I was just admiring your hourglass and insisted Harry come look too."

"It is a most intriguing object." Slughorn walked to it, loving Rebecca's enthusiasm. "The sand runs in accordance with the quality of the conversation."

"Good think I'm here then, it'll never run dry!" Rebecca and Slughorn shared a laugh at her joke, Harry joining them a moment too late.

"You, no, you have nothing to worry about. Some of your classmates however, let's just say their unlikely to make the shelf." 

"The shelf?" Harry asked curiously.

"Anyone who aspires to be anyone hopes to end up here." Slughorn walked across the room slowly, explaining as he lead she and Harry to a set up similar to the one he'd set up in the muggle house they'd met him in over the summer. "Though you two already are someone, aren't you?"

Harry saw an opportunity and took it, though Rebecca wished he had been a little more tactful. "Did Voldemort ever make the shelf, sir?" Slughorn kept his back to them, his head shooting up at the name. "You knew him, didn't you? Tom Riddle? You were his teacher."

"Mr Riddle had a number of teachers whilst here at Hogwarts." Slughorn didn't turn towards them.

After a pregnant pause, Rebecca shook her head at Harry as he went to speak again. "I'm sorry, sir. Forgive us. He-Well, he killed our parents."

Slughorn turned to them slowly, "It's only natural, that you should want to know more. But I'm afraid I must disappoint you both." Slughorn's eyes took on a furtive quality. "When I met young Mr Riddle, he was a quiet, albeit brilliant, boy committed to becoming a first-rate wizard." He shook his head, "Not unlike others, not unlike yourselves, in fact."

Rebecca's face hardened in an instant, unable to remain complacent at a comparison drawn between them and Voldemort. 

"If the monster existed it was buried deep within."

Harry offered the professor a weak smile. Rebecca heard the soft tinkling of the sand in his conversation meter stop, the conversation ending abruptly.

*******************************************

<3


	8. CHAPTER 3

**The worst part, or perhaps the best part** , of Rebecca and Fred's delayed meeting was that their first quidditch match was before. Not only was it one thing less for Rebecca to worry about being a distraction, it would also give them something happier to talk about.

Ron entered the Great Hall quietly. His quidditch kit was on and his helmet firmly on his head. "Good luck, Ron!" Neville wished on his way out. 

"Yeah, good luck mate!" Nigel and Louis crowed, Emmet between them as they followed the few other students leaving breakfast early. 

Seamus pecked Dean's cheek before hopping off the bench and running to Ron's side. "I'm counting on you, okay Ron? I've two galleons on Gryffindor!"

Ron nodded and chatted a moment before his words were droned out by leers from Slytherin's table. 

"LOSER!"

Malfoy's absences hadn't been noticed individually, but Crabbe and Goyle's rowdy behaviour had been. With Draco off more hours than not, the two large boys had taken to tormenting as many students as they could. 

Ron sank into the seat across from Rebecca and Harry, a frown growing on his face. "Don't come sit over here all piss-poor." Rebecca grumbled, taking a bite out of her muffin. "Got enough of that as it is."

"What's wrong with you? Dinner party not go well?" Ron scooped a single serving of breakfast uncharacteristically.

"It went fine." Hermione answered, pointing at Ron's breakfast. "That's hardly enough for you." Ron rolled his eyes and took another piece of toast to appease her. "It was boring, actually. Though Harry enjoyed dessert best, I think."

Rebecca took a well-timed survey of the room, ignoring Harry's subtle glare at the two of them at Hermione's jest. Ron didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Slughorn's having a Christmas do, as well." Hermione turned her page in the paper. "We're supposed to bring someone."

Ron sneered and took a single bite of his toast. "I expect you'll bring McLaggen. He's in the Slug Club, isn't he?"

Hermione slapped the table with her paper. "Actually, I was going to ask you!"

Rebecca looked between Hermione and Ron curiously before rolling her eyes at the blonde demon that approached them. "Good luck today, Ron. I _know_ you'll be brilliant." Lavender skipped away, ignoring the looks of death Hermione and Rebecca were sending her way.

"I'm resigning. After today's match, McLaggen can have my spot." Ron poked at his breakfast.

"The hell you are!" Rebecca hissed. "I'm not letting that sleaze near any of us. Should have heard him talking about why he likes to play Keeper. Dirty bastard 'likes the view.'"

"It's up to him." Harry argued, sliding Ron's cup closer to him. "Juice?"

"Hello, everyone."

Rebecca jumped, noticing the lion's head cladden Luna down the bench. "Luna! I'm so sorry, I would have said hi earlier but I-"

"Didn't notice, you're reading the same letter you have been at breakfast all week." Rebecca blushed and put Fred's letter into her pocket. Luna turned to Harry and Ron. "You look dreadful, Ron. Is that why Harry's put something in your cup?" Rebecca and Hermione turned to Harry. "Is it a tonic?"

Harry made a production of hiding the little vial as he slipped it back into his pocket. "Liquid luck." Hermione faced Ron immediately. "Don't drink it!" Ron lifted the cup to his mouth and paused a moment before drinking it all in one go. Rebecca watched Ron sit up straighter, the colour returning to his face and a grin spreading from ear to ear. "You could be expelled for that!" Hermione hissed at Harry before turning to Rebecca for backup.

Harry looked at her sassily. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you, Rebecca?"

Rebecca sighed heavily, shoving the last of her muffin into her mouth so her answer was unintelligible. 

Ron stood up, grinning madly. "Come on, we've got a game to win!"

*******************************************

A game to win they did. Rebecca and Ginny were tested by the Slytherin chasers' violence. Ginny had already been checked to the point of a foul and, Rebecca knew well enough as she could feel her own growing, a massive bruise. 

A bludger whizzed past Rebecca's head, hardly an inch to spare. She whirled around and caught sight of two new Gryffindor beaters chatting as they looped around lazily. "PLAY OR GET OFF THE BLOODY PITCH!" Rebecca shouted, flying up to them and chasing them until the got a move on, the other chaser and Ginny going ahead. The beaters jumped to action. Harry chuckled from his view high above, her intensity reminding Harry strongly of Oliver.

Luna and Neville were on either side of Hermione who was clapping begrudgingly. Rebecca and Ginny were spectacular, as always, but Ron? Ron was playing like he never had before. He hadn't let a single shot go through the hoops. He'd blocked some upside down, some sideways, caught some, blocked a few with his head. 

"F and G?" Ginny shouted to Rebecca.

Rebecca nodded, holding her hand up to the right. Ginny'd taken it upon herself to name their most common plays, and F and G was their favourite.

Rebecca took the quaffle first, zigzagging across the bottom of the pitch before sending the quaffle back to Ginny who cut straight up as Rebecca blocked the path of those in pursuit. Then, Ginny dodged between the beaters in the air before dropping the quaffle. Rebecca, following Ginny's path below her, plucked the quaffle out of the air and zipped forward before sending the keeper and the chaser who had been waiting on standby crashing into each other and ten more points on the board.

The F and G, accurately named, was inspired by how Fred and George had crashed into each other during a match one summer.

The crowd expected such greatness from the Gryffindor Chasers, Rebecca and Ginny were two of the best. But Ron's sudden improvement soon had the crowd chanting Weasley to a fast beat, a beat the quickly followed them into the common room.

Rebecca looked around the celebration sullenly, seeing every instance that showed Fred and George had not put it together. The 'Weasley' sign between the stairs was off center, the drink table wasn't organised, and, Rebecca thought, worst of all, the punch hadn't even been spiked.

_"At least that I can fix myself."_

Nigel watched curiously from the side as Rebecca broke off from the crowd around Ron and dumped one of the glass bottles into the punch before pouring herself a cup. "Something tells me that's not something a prefect's roommate should have done." He sang as he looked over the room to see if Hermione had seen.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at him, "Something tells me that's not a threat someone who knows what I have access to would make."

Nigel grinned, pouring himself a cup. "Not a threat--An observation." Nigel waved his cup at it all. "Good party?"

Rebecca shrugged, "It's fine."

"But it's not like before." Nigel finished for her. 

Rebecca nodded and tilted her cup all the way up and poured herself another. "No, no it's not." She wandered away with a bottle of Wacky Witch, enjoying the lightness she felt swirling through her head as she drank deeply from her cup and made her way towards the back of the common room.

"You really shouldn't have done it." Hermione said weakly, watching as Ron flourished as the center of attention. It occurred to her then that this was probably all he'd ever wanted, to be the focus of everyone in the room. In that moment, Hermione realised that she didn't care about the potion anymore.

"I know. I could have used the Confundus Charm to move him about."

Hermione's eyes widened at Harry's knowing gaze. "That was different. That was tryouts. This was an actual game." Even she thought her justifications were weak. Harry reached up into the pocket of his shirt, pulling out the small vial. "Y-You didn't put it in? Ron only thought you did."

Harry nodded and grinned as they turned back to their friend. Lavender reached up and grabbed Ron's hand, pulling him down from the stool he'd been standing on. Rebecca glanced over her shoulder and turned away as Ron and Lavender's bodies collided in front of the crowd, a snog ensuing. She grimaced and poured herself another drink before switching her empty bottle with a full one off the table and tripping out the portrait hole.

*******************************************

Harry noticed Hermione was gone immediately, though he'd decided to give her some time to cool off before finding her. One of the reasons he'd made himself wait was because he'd seen the back of Rebecca's head leave shortly after Hermione did and figured they needed privacy for girl-talk or whatever else it was they did in their free time.

Imagine Harry's surprise as he left the common room and followed the sound of one of them giggling madly down the corridor and down the stairs.

Rebecca had her wand in one hand and a bottle in the other. She wavered back and forth as she stood, small birds flitting around their heads. "H-hArRY!" Rebecca shouted, raising her glass to the sky and trying to take a drink from her wand before switching them. "You found us!" She whispered loudly, "Careful, peepl will think yer the smart twin!"

Hermione wiped at her face, Harry saw the evidence that she'd been crying. "I've been trying to get her to stop, but she won't listen to reason."

"Reaso-Raisin?!" Rebecca grinned cheekily. "Raisins are just old, wrinkly grapes. Dumbledore's wrinkly." Rebecca froze, shaking her head in disbelief. "Dumbly's a raisin."

Harry chuckled and sat on the step next to Hermione, taking a drink from the bottle she offered him. He grimaced, "What is that? It's awful!"

Hermione gestured to the bottle Rebecca was now dancing with. "It's her left overs."

Harry looked up at the birds questioningly.

"Charms spell, Rebecca insisted. Said something about needing a bird with her."

Harry nodded, "A magpie, right?" Hermione looked at him strangely, unsure of why he would know. "His patronus."

Hermione pursed her lips and looked at their drunk friend. "It doesn't seem fair, does it." Harry didn't say anything, waiting for Hermione to elaborate. "They're apart and...and we're..." Hermione shook her head. "How does it feel Harry? To see Ginny with Anthony?"

"Well, we're not-"

"I know." Hermione rolled her eyes and wiped her cheek again. "You look at her the same way Rebecca does Fred."

Rebecca stumbled and hit the wall with her shoulder. "I'm sorry! Oh, you're a wall." Rebecca snorted, taking another drink. "Talking to a wall. Still tal-talking to a wall."

Footsteps came down the hall towards them, Lavender hanging off Ron's arm. Rebecca gagged. "Damn, knew something stunk." Harry sighed, holding his hand to his brow as Rebecca pointed at Lavender. "Just a-"

"I think this room's taken." Lavender interrupted before hurrying off to find them a dark corner.

Ron looked past Rebecca, slightly worried about her state but more curious as to why Hermione and Harry were sitting and watching her instead of enjoying the party. "What's with the birds?" He turned back see which direction Lavender had gone in.

Hermione stood up and squared her shoulders. _"Oppugno."_ The birds lined up over her head and soared in a straight line at Ron. He took a few quick steps, dodging back and forth as the birds struck the wall and poofed back into the leaves Hermione had charmed them from.

Rebecca tripped over her own feet and air as she made her way back to Harry and Hermione, Hermione now sitting on the step next to Harry and crying into his shoulder. "It feels like this."

Rebecca dropped to the floor in front of them and sat while taking the last drink from the bottle. She shrugged and set it on the ground with a clank that made Harry and Hermione look at her. "D-Don't worries. It's not all it's cracked up to-" Her words were slurred and her head waved from side to side as she tried to say what she wanted. She closed her eyes a moment before her head sank and she woke herself back up. 

She held her wand out in front of her, ignoring Harry's outstretched hand for it. "No!" Rebecca closed her eyes again, thinking about Fred and how much better the evening would have been with him there. How much better she was when he was there.

She kept her eyes closed and touched her wand to the stone floor in front of her. _"Infunde."_ Just like before, the picture spread out from her wand and filled in the space she'd imagined in her mind with an image Rebecca saw whenever she laid against his chest and he looked down at her. His hair falling ever so slightly, his lips starting to turn in a grin, his eyes staring into hers.

Rebecca laid back on the stone, knocking the empty bottle to the ground. Hermione and Harry stood up a few minutes later, stepping over the rendering she'd made on the ground and pulling her to her feet between them. Her wand was still in her hand and clattered to the floor. Hermione and Harry worked together to lead her back up to the common room, finding the task much harder than it needed to be with her incessant talking.

"Not done." She'd mutter before trying to step by herself. "Stil-Drinky."

"That's enough for tonight." Harry said softly, "Let's go to bed, okay?"

Rebecca shook her head, flopping her head towards him. "N'okay." 

Hermione shook her head. "C'mon Becs, let's head up. A nap?"

Rebecca's head fell against her chest, a slow breath coming from her. "Nap'll work. I like naps."

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other. The Fat Lady opened the door with minimal judgements, she'd seen quite a few intoxicated students in her years. The common room was much emptier than it had been, though the banner was still crooked. "Fred'd never." Rebecca snorted, "Topsy-turvy, lopped!" She used her hand around Harry's neck to gesture it, but only ended up hitting him on the side of the head.

"Yes, we know." Hermione said kindly. Rebecca didn't say anything. Harry looked up the stairs and saw an issue with their plan, he couldn't get up the stairs. 

Ginny appeared behind them, bending down to look at Rebecca's face. "I can take it from here." She offered, holding an arm out to slip under Harry's and take half of Rebecca.

Harry nodded, stepping forward without really looking at Ginny. He paused in front of Rebecca and brushed the hair away from her face, his eyes tracing over the scar around her eye before kissing her forehead. "Sleep well." Harry stopped in front of Hermione, leaving a brief peck on top of her head as well. "You too."

Hermione nodded and stepped forward with Ginny, not saying anything. Rebecca's feet were feeling heavier and heavier, her body growing more and more tired as they wandered down the hall to their room. Once inside, Hermione and Ginny dumped her onto her bed and untied her shoes and slipped them off before Ginny slid her glasses off her nose. "This is new."

*******************************************

As Rebecca slept off the alcohol, the castle was a flurry of motion. Lavender had dragged Ron off to the stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower where they'd run into Seamus and Dean in equal states of mussed hair and lack of breath. The running in of the two couples was a cruel coincidence that stopped either of them from reaching the top.

The top where Draco had his elbows against the railing as he looked out over the night-laden surroundings. The stars were dimmed by the clouds that slunk across the sky slowly, propelled forward by the wind that kissed his face as it passed him. It played along his cheeks and slipped through his clothes, chilling him to shivers in minutes.

But he couldn't get himself to leave. 

_"I could do it. I could do it right now and save them. Save myself."_

Draco turned his head to the ground, dizzying himself at the sheer distance down. He laughed once, a sad, defeated sound that stayed in the Astronomy Tower long after he'd gone silent again.

_"That would require strength."_

Draco wiped his face angrily, trying to turn his sadness into anger and unable to.

_"And I'm just a coward."_

*******************************************

Rebecca opened her eyes the next morning confused. She did not remember getting into bed. In fact, after running her dry-as-sandpaper tongue over her lips, she realised she couldn't remember anything after talking to Nigel. Her head didn't hurt exactly, it just felt like it was filled with cotton, like her thoughts were taking extra time to become clear.

She sat up slowly, grabbing her glasses off the table and sliding them to find Ginny and Hermione staring at her. "What?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "How do you feel?"

Rebecca glanced at Ginny, "Thirsty."

Ginny laughed, "Thirsty? You drank enough for the house last night, would've out drank Bill!"

Rebecca had heard stories about Bill's beverage-related mishaps to feel the embarrassment creeping its way across her face. "Really?"

Hermione sighed, "Really. Hop to, the common room needs to be cleaned and you're in charge." Rebecca didn't move. "Rebecca, Nigel was tripping over himself up the stairs and singing about a 'Black-haired pirate spiking the punch.'"

"I do have a twin." Rebecca grumbled as she stepped into the bathroom. "It might not have been me." Hermione turned back to the mirror, pulling a brush through her hair and eyeing Rebecca knowingly. "Alright, alright. Does cleaning the common room mean I don't get the scolding?" Rebecca glanced at Hermione and sighed, "Never mind."

*******************************************

"...and most of all, you were entirely embarrassing." Rebecca looked up as she put the last of the bottles into the bin she was carrying around the common room. Harry's cheeks were red and he had his hands on his hips with such cheek, even Dumbledore would have been impressed. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Rebecca looked at him a long moment before raising her wand and scratching the side of her head with it. Harry's eyes widened, though he stood his ground. "I have to say that you're in my way." Harry stepped to the side so that she could put the bin back where it was. Hermione and Ginny were standing at the portrait hole together, both having watched from the side as Harry's lecture had gone on and on.

"Breakfast? Or will it be too embarrassing?" Rebecca asked over her shoulder, no hint of malice or discontent. The night before had been cathartic, she'd numbed everything within her for a short while and had felt a reprieve that not even Harry's tone could diminish.

Harry rolled his eyes and followed the girls down the stairs. Ron had stayed in bed, groaning about his head. "Blimey!" Rebecca rushed to the side of the hall at the bottom and crouched down next to the rendering from the night before. "You couldn't have preempted with this? Bloody hell, how many people have walked by!"

"It's not like it's a secret." Hermione said, crossing her arms. "You and Fred."

"Well I'm not some love-sick fool incapable of distance either!" Rebecca nodded her head from side to side, trying to come up with a spell that would get rid of the image and leave the floor as it was. _"Bombarda contineb-"_

"That will be enough." Professor McGonagall's voice paused Rebecca's spell. "I'm shocked. You normally schedule your school desecration after lunch." McGonagall looked down at Rebecca's feet, seeing the image poking out from under her shoes and robes. "Step back, please."

"Professor, this really isn't-"

"Step back." Rebecca looked down at the ground and took a step back so that the image was completely uncovered. "I see."

Ginny stepped forward, fully prepared to lie for her. "It was my fault, professor. Late night technique question and all."

McGonagall turned towards Hermione and pursed her lips. "It is the prefects duty to make sure all evening debauchery remains within the bounds of the common room, Miss Granger. Remember that next time." Hermione nodded once. McGonagall turned back to the spectacular image. "I will handle this, move along."

Rebecca looked at the picture one more time, sighing. "I'm sorry."

"For?" McGonagall let the others move farther ahead before speaking, so that only Rebecca could hear. "I wish to see you after classes today, my office."

*******************************************

Care for Magical Creatures was a lonely experience, Rebecca found, in her sixth year. No one else had continued on with it, Ron and Harry because they didn't want a class they didn't really care about to take time away from their other classes and Hermione because Arithmancy was only offered at the same time.

But, most of all, it was because she didn't realise how little time she spent away from the others. Of course there were those that she knew in class. Hannah Abbott was still taking the course, as well as Neville. Luna did too, though she spent the entire class observing the animal they were studying with an intensity that didn't allow conversation.

"You mind?" Neville asked, sitting on the tree stump next to her before she could answer. "Luna's...Luna-ing."

Rebecca glanced ahead at how Luna was sitting in front of the kneazle with books spread in a wide circle on the stumps around her. "I don't mind anyway." Rebecca flipped the page in their text book, telling herself she'd go back and actually read it later even though she had no intention of doing so.

"Saw that on the floor this morning." Neville peeked at her out of the corner of his eyes, keeping his head turned down towards his book. "How do you do it?"

"Was my lesson that unmemorable?" Rebecca offered him a small smile before shrugging. "I don't know. Not sure if you heard Harry or not but I did 'over-indulge,' as he put it. Probably just thought it was a good idea at the time."

"Couldn't have not heard him. No, I mean how do you put your memories out like that." Neville chuckled, "I tried after class that year, there was always something off. Your memories come out exactly as they were."

"Before Hogwarts," Rebecca began softly, not wanting the other students to hear. Hagrid had already done his teaching and released them to read or chatter quietly. "I didn't know about magic. It was something that existed in stories or for little kids to pretend would fix everything or make people forget things." Her voice grew cynical at the end. She'd spent far too many years pretending she could magically escape her childhood. "Then I get here, find a brother, learn about these things we can do and that--taking our memories--that has been the most mental thing."

Neville met her eyes, finding them darkened by something he couldn't place. 

"Not the fact that Voldemort tried to kill us, has tried to kill us each year. But that we have a way to make our memories last forever. Stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid." Neville shook his head, "Really, it's not."

Rebecca closed the book on her lap and stared out ahead of them. "Feels it though. Doesn't matter how much you remember something if it's not there."

Neville went quiet a moment. "That's why we remember things though, to have it when it's gone."

Rebecca chewed on the inside of her lip, mulling over what he'd said. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Luna dropped onto the ground in front of them, her bag overflowing with books. The snow poofed with the force of her and Neville laughed. "Done."

"Done what exactly?" Rebecca asked before pulling the scarf Molly had given them for Christmas the year before tighter around her neck. "Aren't you cold?"

"I've written my essay. And yes, very."

The clock up at the castle chimed, signifying the end of Hagrid's class and the end of Rebecca's classes as a whole. "Let's head on up then. Don't know why you'd sit in the snow." Luna laughed tapping her wand to her legs so that the snow fell off.

Neville and Luna made a joke Rebecca didn't quite understand, though Rebecca was happy to them get along so well. Neville smiled when Rebecca looked at him, saying something about how he missed the Army.

"Yes, I do too." Luna glanced at Rebecca. "It was nice having friends."

Rebecca's jaw dropped, "Luna!" Rebecca put her arm through Luna's and Neville's shaking her head adamantly. "We are friends."

Luna tilted her head, "I know about what you did for me last year, you know."

Rebecca winked, disengaging herself from them to turn down the corridor to McGonagall's office. "Then you should have known we're friends."

Neville asked Luna what she was talking about after Rebecca had left them. "My belongings. Sometimes the other Ravenclaws like to take my things and hide them. They don't like that I disagree with how they measure knowledge." Luna smiled. "I think wanting to learn matters more than perfecting skills."

Neville smiled, "I agree. But what does that have to do with-Oh. Never mind. I can only imagine." Neville scratched the back of his neck. "Do you want to-maybe, if you don't have anything else-stop by the greenhouses? I've got a Siberian Snow Orchid that's ready to bloom any day now."

Luna nodded, "My favourite of the Siberians."

*******************************************

"Tea?" McGonagall poured another cup at Rebecca's nod. "Biscuit?" 

"How many detentions?" Rebecca asked, dipping her biscuit in the steaming cup of tea. "For last night."

McGonagall sipped her tea delicately, peering over the edge of the cup at her before she set it back on its saucer. "None." Rebecca sat a moment, taking another bite of her biscuit as she tried to get over her shock. She certainly hadn't been a stranger to detenions this year. Not with the pranks she was pulling off solo. "I am concerned, however."

"Did Harry ask you to do this?"

McGonagall ignored the question. "Albus spoke to me about your last conversation. He was worried that you might have taken his swift dismissal as-"

"Of course not." Rebecca shook her head. "He looked ill, that had nothing to do with anything." McGonagall sat in silence, knowing the best way to get answers from teenagers was to let silence do all the asking. "Mostly. I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm afraid you have no choice." McGonagall put another biscuit onto Rebecca's plate. "Your behaviour is entirely out of character and you have too many concerned for the childish insolence of 'not wanting to talk about it.'"

Rebecca scowled, occupying herself with her cup. "I'm just coming to terms with something." McGonagall didn't move. "The Wollstone's Wood prophecy, I know how it ends." McGonagall's heart jumped and the professor grabbed her hands together tightly underneath the edge of the desk. "A loss one cannot comprehend. That's my family, that's Harry, that's-"

"That is farce." McGonagall interrupted. "That prophecy has been said to belong to more witches and wizards over our history than imaginable because it isn't true--It will never come to fruition."

Rebecca offered a rueful smile, "Professor, we know each other well enough to know that it too much of it lines up with me. With what I've done." Rebecca shook her head and stood up slowly. "It's okay, I'm okay. I'm getting there, at least." Rebecca closed her eyes and turned her head away. "Maybe...Maybe I could just have a hug."

McGonagall stood and walked around the desk, wrapping her into a hug that rivalled Molly's. McGonagall held a hand to the back of her head, flashes of her students lost flitting across her mind as she thought about the trials and tribulations she would face.

"Professor?" Rebecca tilted her head up but kept her arms around her. "I won't let anything happen to them. That's not what I've been thinking about. That's something I won't do." McGonagall wished momentarily that she could see into the mind between her eyes, to see what she was thinking and to offer any strength she could because McGonagall didn't fully understand.

If she could look into her mind, if she did understand, she would have felt the resignation that was finally settling over Rebecca. Rebecca realised would bring about the end of ends, she would finish the prophecy and she would do what was needed of her.

But, when the time came, she would die before anything happened to those she loved.

*******************************************

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Harry pounced the second she entered the common room. "I swear!"

Rebecca shook her head and laughed, a real laugh. "I'm not in trouble, she must have decided against any since you gave me such a thrashing this morning." Harry smiled sheepishly and went to take his seat again. "How about a game of chess?" She offered.

Harry turned and sprinted to the cabinet, having the game in his hand and set up before she could even sit on the floor next to the fire with him. Hermione glanced over the edge of her book at them curiously. "Chess, Rebecca? Are you ill?"

Rebecca looked to Hermione and smiled, "Ill? No. Mental, probably." Harry turned the board from side to side, trying to figure out what was making it unbalanced. Rebecca glanced around the common room and mouthed, _"Ginny?"_

Hermione shook her head, pointing out the portrait hole. Rebecca frowned. She knew she was out with Anthony. Not that she had a problem with Anthony, not at all. There wasn't anything to have an issue with, he was boring. Wholly and entirely boring. He didn't have a hobby, didn't have any interests, didn't have any preferences. He simply existed. Ginny deserved more.

Rebecca reached forward and pulled the sweet wrapper off the edge of the board so Harry would put it back down. Harry moved his first piece two spaces ahead. Rebecca pointed at the strange tower piece, "How does this one move again?"

Harry explained slowly, not unkindly. He loved wizard's chess. The strategy, the trying to plan a defence for each and every one of your opponent's potential moves. But most of all, he loved Rebecca. He'd worried about how she was getting on with out Fred and George. Not because he didn't think that she could handle a little separation, that was the least of his concerns. No, he worried because he knew how close the three of them were. She didn't wasn't just without Fred, she was without two of her friends. 

He and Rebecca, they studied together, they ate together, they managed quidditch together, but he watched her disappear into the Room of Requirement on the map for hours at a time while he read over the books she'd given them or read through the Half-Blood Prince's notes more.

Essentially, Harry was afraid they were growing apart. He never hadn't had a sibling--not a real one--before and he didn't think it was something he could ask Ron, but he was terrified that one day Rebecca would realise he wasn't anything special, that he wasn't-

"Checkmate?" Rebecca looked around in awe, pointing at her piece and back to his king. "Hermione, that's a checkmate, isn't it?!"

Hermione sat forward in her chair to see the board. "I'm afraid it is, Harry."

Harry looked at the board a long moment before turning his head up to Rebecca with a smile spread across his face. "Congratulations." He held his hand out across the top of the board.

"You didn't let me win, did you?" She asked, holding her hand back until he answered.

He looked at her and felt like he was seeing her in a new light; The fact that she had enough integrity to not accept a win unless she earned it only cementing this new view. It occured to Harry as he told her that he most certainly did not let her win that she looked like an adult. Of course there was still the traces of childhood, the carefree way she shrugged off Hermione's homework reminder, the way she turned to Nigel and handed him a small bag before sending Nigel off with a wicked grin, but there was something else to her now--A cloud that seemed to hang over her and cast a shadow of age.

Hermione nudged Harry's elbow from where he had joined her on the couch, she continuing to read and he making his observations. "Feeling retrospective?"

Harry nodded, "Something like that."

*******************************************

<3


	9. CHAPTER 4

**"I'll be back,"** Rebecca patted the top of Harry's head as she grabbed the cloak out of his hands in the boys' room. "Sleep well."

Harry sat up in his bed, yawning. "Did you end up finishing the Defence Ess-"

"Yes, _Hermione_." Rebecca waved as she popped out the door. Harry smiled to himself, the last of his roommates to go to sleep. She put the cloak over her head in the hall and practically ran out of the common room. November had dragged by and there hadn't been any word from Fred about anything--Including Remus and Sirius' whereabouts. 

The castle was silent, as it was supposed to be so close to the middle of the night in the week before they were to return home for the holidays. Rebecca's homework was mostly finished, her hours spent in the Room of Requirement had resulted in a trunk's worth of goods to bring back with her, and the only responsibility left for before she term was over was Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. 

She'd kept herself busy with the goal of running herself so ragged time would fly. It didn't. 

Rebecca had to restrain herself to a fast walk as she wanted nothing more than to spring through the halls. Fred hadn't written again, though she hadn't expected him to with the cryptic undertones of his last letter. 

Weeks earlier, the Daily Prophet changed its tone dramatically. All reports of missing or murdered witches and wizards disappeared. Any mention of attacks were gone as well. Rebecca knew too well that the lack of news didn't mean that tragedies weren't happening. No, she had come to the conclusion that it meant that the Prophet had been taken over, too.

All dark thoughts left her as she turned into the corridor to the statue of the one-eyed witch that marked the entrance to the tunnel that Fred was supposed to meet her in.

Key word being 'was.'

*******************************************

"What do you mean he didn't show up?" Harry hissed over his plate of eggs and sausage. 

"What I mean, Harry, IS THAT HE DIDN'T-" Hermione shoved a piece of bread into Rebecca's mouth, muffling the shout that had started to echo through the very-full Great Hall. 

Harry looked down at his plate, swallowing his frustration with Rebecca's smart-arsery and taking a deep breath as the Great Hall's momentary silence at her outburst ended and the breakfast chatter began once more. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah?" Rebecca took the toast out of her mouth and waved it as she reached for her cup. "Me fucking too."

Hermione glanced at Harry nervously, Rebecca's tone alluding to the issue leading deeper than she was exuding. "I'm sure he's fine." Hermione reassured, nodding for Harry to add on.

"No doubt. Rebecca," Harry waited until she met his gaze. "He wanted to be there."

Rebecca's teeth found comfort in tearing at her cheek as she mulled it over. "What would have kept him away?" Rebecca didn't wait for an answer, instead, she stood and put her bag over her shoulder. "Trouble, that's what."

"This isn't going to go well." Hermione warned Harry as she put a muffin away in her bag.

"How?" Harry was trying to eat what was on his plate quickly, wanting to go with Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes, Ron walking towards them. "I'll talk with her before class." Harry nodded and Hermione left without another word.

"What's with them?" Ron scooped his breakfast as he asked, Lavender quickly scooting down the table to latch onto Ron as she had continued to do since the quidditch match.

Harry was disgusted. Ron's coupling with Lavender could only be compared to Harry and Draco conjoining, though the thought of the white-haired Slytherin only contrasted Harry's disgust with concern: Harry had continued to watch Draco sneak into the Room of Requirement around Rebecca's extensive time in there.

"It's the fifteenth." Harry answered curtly, not giving Lavender access to any information on Rebecca.

"So?"

Harry stood up and grabbed his bag, unable to handle Ron's obliviousness.

"Don't worry Won-Won." Lavender's hand gravitated towards his thigh. "Will you tell me about the match again?" Ron obliged happily.

While Harry and Hermione were talking minutes, Rebecca ran directly into someone directly outside the Great Hall's doors. Someone who had made it very clear he was severing all ties with her at the beginning of the school year.

"Watch where you're going!" Draco snapped, not realising who had barreled into him. Rebecca walked on, not offering an apology or acknowledgement to him. He reached out and caught her arm, yanking her to a stop. "Potter?"

Rebecca tore her arm out of his grasp. "It's Potter Weasley!" She snarled and tried to continue on her way alone. If anyone else had just called her 'Potter,' it would have been one thing. Draco, he got to call her both names or nothing at all. Draco fell into step beside her, ignoring breakfast for the time being. "Bugger off!" The fire in her voice was less, noticeably so.

"I don't think I will." Draco tried to exude cockiness, hoping she couldn't hear a trace of concern in his voice. "Unless, of course, you tell me what's got your wand in a knot."

Rebecca turned her head at him, scoffing. "Yeah, right."

Draco sighed, "Guess I'm going to have to follow you then."

She paused in the hall, some of the other students eyeing them as they passed. "What's it to you? You don't care, we don't like each other. We aren't friends. You made that _very_ clear, Malfoy."

Draco put his hands in his pockets, hating the feeling of the stares landing on them and that she only called him by his last name. She'd always called him Draco, always. "No, we aren't."

Rebecca nodded once sharply and glared at him. "Then fuck off and leave me the hell alone."

Harry had run through the corridors to get beside Hermione, both of whom turned into the hall with Draco and Rebecca at the exact moment Rebecca ended their interaction with such a clear finality that Draco walked away without arguing. 

Hermione and Harry each took a side of her, walking to Transfiguration in tense silence.

*******************************************

"If there was attention being paid, perhaps my class would look less of an exhibit on daydreaming primates and more of students preparing for the N.E.W.T.s!" McGonagall levitated the book in front of Rebecca and let it slam back onto her desk with a slap that jerked the whole room to attention.

Rebecca jumped in her seat, turning her attention from the window she'd let her gaze wander to back to the lesson at hand. McGonagall continued after a moment, finding that there was hardly enough time left of class to finish the lesson and assign homework, let alone fit a lengthy scolding in as well.

"That will be a seven inch parchment describing the Transfigurational laws and their practises, due Friday before holiday!"

The students collectively groaned, Hermione scratching the instructions down dutifully. McGonagall watched as Harry gently slid Rebecca she'd forgotten to put away with her book in front of her. Rebecca pursed her lips and bowed her head, shoving it in her bag roughly. Hermione hurried out the door after them, none noticing Professor McGonagall studying their interactions.

Rebecca checked the time, wondering if she had time to run to the kitchens before Defence Against the Dark Arts and finding that there wasn't enough. Hermione swung her bag in front of her and offered the muffin with a kind smile. Rebecca frowned, taking it and thanking her. Peeling the paper methodically, Rebecca spoke softly to them. "I'm sorry."

Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Hermione doing the same. "There's nothing to be sorry for." He looked up quickly, an idea coming to him. "Why don't we do something this afternoon?"

Hermione looked between them, nodding. "I think that's a brilliant idea. After classes of course."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Of course."

Rebecca took a bite before answering. "I don't know what you'd like to do, too bloody cold out to fly, not to mention Ravenclaw's got the pitch. It'll be too late to go on a walk."

Harry grinned, "I was thinking something a little more productive." Rebecca's confusion was evident. Harry felt his face warm as he admitted to knowing that she wasn't spending as much time in the library as she'd been saying. "You could show me what you've been working on, if you want."

It occured to Hermione that pranking and prank making might be the last thing Rebecca would want to do, but Rebecca latched onto the idea enthusiastically and turned to her. "You can come if you want to too!"

Hermione smiled, shaking her head. "I have Arithmancy work that has to be done, you two go on. I'm sure I'll hear all about whatever you do at the library tonight." Hermione wanted to warn them not to break too many rules, but seeing something flit across Rebecca's face other than the dejected, morose defeat that had lingered there since she'd opened her eyes that morning made Hermione keep her lecture to herself. 

Harry found a weight lifted off his shoulders as Rebecca walked with a little more her in her step, though he was quickly nodding along as if he understood not because he didn't want to, but because she was simply speaking too quickly for anything else.

She was so swept away in Harry's proposed interest in the very thing he always despised that she forgot to shut herself off as they entered their next class. Snape's class.

*******************************************

"I hate that man." Rebecca muttered a class block later. "I really, truly do."

Hermione nodded, thinking to herself that it was probably good that there was a slight break before Charms. Potions with Snape had been bad because Snape was miserable. Defence Against the Dark Arts with Snape was horrible because he enjoyed it. 

Harry and Rebecca continued to feel the brunt of his anger, especially with such a happy entrance. Snape had berated them for sullying the academic atmosphere of his classroom before letting them sit where he forced them to read their essays to the class while he critiqued them publicly.

Rebecca bent to the ground and rummaged through her bag a moment before pulling out a small bird-like figure that she held between two fingers as she stood up. _"Severus Snape."_ She whispered before throwing it over her shoulder. There was an audible clatter in the emptying corridor before a zipping sound took over.

"Do I want to know what you just released?" Hermione asked nervously.

Rebecca smirked, "Depends. Did it bother you when he called you a frizzy-haired Gryffindor know-it-all?"

Hermione scowled. "What did it do?"

Harry turned the corner with them as Rebecca launched into a technical explanation that didn't answer Hermione's question in the slightest. Rebecca sighed, "I've been calling it One-Bird Two-Stones. It'll find the feet of the person you tell it and wedge it's way into their shoe."

"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously. "That would be annoying, but that doesn't really fit your style. There's usually a little more."

Rebecca shrugged, "It may or may not split into two and may or may not also bite your toes."

A shout rang out from the classroom they'd left behind, sending all three of them into stitches as they hurried away.

*******************************************

Harry had been slightly skeptical at the ornate quality of the wooden door. Vines had crept up it as she continued to use the Room of Requirement, though she hadn't asked it to. The room had done some things seemingly on its own, drawing on her innermost desires and likes to morph the finer details of what had become her work space. 

"I don't-" Harry was spinning in a slow circle in the middle of the circular stone room. Another table had been added, though the writing desk in the middle of the room remained untouched like a shrine to the correspondences she should have been answering. Next to the desk were two trunks, one on top of the other. The bottom had already been filled and the top one only needed a few more things before Rebecca could close it and shrink it for transporting to Fred and George. "What have you done?"

Rebecca laughed and took her jumper off, tossing it on her bag which she took off as soon as she entered the room. "I think the better questions is what haven't I." Rebecca brushed past Harry and smacked the back of his hand. "Don't touch that." Harry's hand shot back. Rebecca plucked the book off of the corner of the table she'd been working on last, tossing it to Harry. "That's as close to an answer as you'll get."

Harry thumbed through the pages, finding recipes and notes, ingredient comparisons and, "GPTs?"

Rebecca snorted, "Guinea Pig Thoughts." Her smile dimmed as Harry didn't understand what she meant and she had to say aloud that she didn't have anyone to test things with. "How well things work, how long, lasting effects, that sort of thing. Someone's got to do it, especially before anything can go into the shop."

Harry closed the book loudly, shaking his head. "Guinea pig waiting right here. Lay it on me." Rebecca raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "If you don't give me something, I'll have to start touching things!"

Rebecca plucked the book out of his hands and held her hand out, a collection of small goods in her palm. Harry looked over them carefully, noting and avoiding the little bird. That left a train, a tree, and some sort of circular orb. Rebecca's face was blank as he held his hand over them all in turn, not giving any hint as to what he could expect.

Harry, in this moment, realised he was afraid. _"What have I gotten myself into?"_

In the end, he picked up the train. When he opened his mouth to ask what it would do, a train's horn left his mouth. The shock that normally would have registered as only a facial expression rendered itself by sending steam out of his ears. Rebecca nodded and scribbled something into her book. When Harry found himself able to speak again, he wasn't surprised with the first question out of his mouth being, "Why?"

Rebecca shrugged, "Thought it sounded like a neat idea. I bet the littler kids would find that a riot." She looked up quickly, staring into the distance. "Toot-your-own-horns?" She shook her head just as quickly. "No, it'll come to me later."

Harry glanced over her shoulder, "Seems like quite a few will." More ideas he'd seen in the book than not weren't named yet. 

Rebecca nodded, "Naming's always been a team effort." She stood up and grabbed another thing. "Wait till you see what this does."

*******************************************

Rebecca entertained Harry until the late afternoon, Harry finding that Rebecca was enthralled with showing him her hard work and Rebecca elated at his interest. When the time finally came to meet Hermione in the library, they were at peace.

Until the saw the look on Hermione's face. She was scowling into a book, a stack next to her that looked untouched. Rebecca glanced at Harry nervously before sliding into the seat beside her. "Mione?"

Hermione scoffed, looking up from the book. Seeing Rebecca and Harry looking at her with such clear care softened her expression. "It's just..."

"Bonkers?" Harry offered.

"Bullshite?" Rebecca counted.

"Bloody absurd?" Harry tried.

Hermione stood up and thought a moment. "Blasphemy?" The three of them hid their laughter from Madam Pince who normally sought out happy students like bloodhounds did their mark. Rebecca took out the list of homework that she had to finish before break and followed Harry and Hermione to the next aisle of books. "Don't get me wrong, he's perfectly at liberty to kiss whoever he likes. Was I under the impression that we would be attending Slughorn's Christmas party together? Yes."

Rebecca grimaced at the mentioning of the blasted party, closing the book she'd opened on magical maladies and let it float back to its rightful place as Hermione continued.

"Now, given the circumstances, I've had to make other arrangements."

Harry followed behind both girls like a lost puppy. "Have you?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder at him, reaching for another book. "Yes. Why?"

"I was just thinking," Harry winced, hating how he knew this was going to sound. "Seeing as neither of us can go with who we'd really like to, we could go together as friends."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Rebecca tucked the book she needed under her arm and joined them at the end of the aisle. "None of us can go with who we really want to." Rebecca sighed and turned to Hermione. "Who're you going with? I haven't got anyone either. Sort of thought I'd talk it through with Fred and all."

Hermione pursed her lips, Harry throwing his arm around Rebecca's and pulling her closer. Four green, intrigued, and inquisitive eyes stared back at Hermione, curious as to who her date was. "Um, it's a surprise." Rebecca furrowed her brow. "It's you two we've got to worry about. You can't just take anyone." Hermione leaned forward, blocking their view down the row momentarily. "See that girl over there?"

Harry subtly looked over Hermione's shoulder while Rebecca leaned forward and made it obvious she was inspecting the girl Hermione identified as Romilda Vane.

"Apparently, she's trying to smuggle you a love potion."

Harry didn't notice the glare Rebecca sent at her. "Really?"

Hermione snapped in front of his face, getting his attention. "Hey! She's only interested in you because she thinks you're the Chosen One."

Harry smirked. "But I am the Chosen One."

Hermione reached forward and whacked him on the head with the book she was holding. Harry was thankful it was a small one. "Ow!"

Rebecca looked up at Harry with a devious smile. "Remember, dear brother," She reached into her pocket and took out a yellow flower. "It's the 'Chosen Ones.'" She reached forward and smacked the flower into his chest. His hair instantly turned a yellow as bright as the petals of the flower had been.

Harry reached to grab her and force her to fix it, but she slipped out of grabbing distance and walked cooly back to the table. Hermione walked with Harry back to the table, nodding her head slowly. "Back to normal. Mostly."

Harry looked up in alarm. "What does mostly mean?"

Rebecca had her book out in front of her, the collection of her work for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. "One eyebrow remaining yellow. Change recipe or delivery method?" She muttered, writing quickly.

Harry sighed, feeling that he was going to end up walking to the Hospital Wing before supper.

*******************************************

"He's not cross, is he?" Rebecca asked from the bathroom that night. His eyebrow had stayed yellow through dinner despite her insistence that it would wear off on its own. "He didn't seem it, maybe I didn't see it."

Hermione sighed and put her quill down. "No, Rebecca, he wasn't cross. But I'm going to be if you don't figure out who you're taking tomorrow night and let me finish this assignment."

Rebecca looked over herself in the mirror, falling silent as Hermione clearly wanted her to. She slid the drawer open silently and took out the small vial of Amortentia Slughorn had given her weeks earlier and twisted the top off for a moment. The effect was instantaneous, the smell flooding her brain with a battle between the relief she felt at being as close to Fred as she could and the worry as to what had kept him last night.

Hermione rolled up her parchment with a proud sense of finality, positive the essay would garner top-marks. Rebecca jammed the lid on quickly, closing the drawer and heading towards the door back towards the common room. "Rebecca?"

She turned and smiled back to Hermione, hoping that it assured her caring friend that she was fine. "Had an idea as to tomorrow night." Rebecca walked down the hall with a purpose, finding solace with the fact that at least Ron's sudden infatuation with Lavender kept her out of the girls' dormitories and, by extension, away from her. One would think that coupling with one half of a close-as-siblings pair would result in kinder treatment and one would be wrong. Lavender, if anything, had been simply been less overt with her hostility and instead insulted Rebecca in a passive way that drove her batty.

The common room was pretty full with those who had already finished pre-holiday homework helping those who hadn't. There, by the window, was exactly who Rebecca had in mind.

"Hey Nigel,"

Nigel looked up quickly, hiding what he had in his hand. Seeing it was only Rebecca, he uncovered his hands and grinned madly. "These bird things are wicked, one of your greatest creations yet."

Rebecca bowed comically, winking. "Well, you're the greatest reviewer." She took the seat next to Nigel, putting her back to the wall so that she faced him straight on. "I've got a favour to ask."

Nigel sat up straight, "Anything."

"Anything?" Rebecca smiled at the fourteen year old boy's enthusiasm.

"Anything." Nigel stared at her in full seriousness. "You name it, it's good as done. Need an arse beat? Done. Need something delivered? Done. Hell, Yara and Louis have been itching for a good-"

"Nothing quite so drastic," Rebecca laid a hand on Nigel's shoulder. "You've got dress robes, don't you?"

*******************************************

As Rebecca found her date, Harry stumbled onto his. Literally.

"Didn't see you there Harry." Luna said in her usual sing-song cadence.

"No, I suppose you didn't." Harry pushed himself up on his elbows outside of the Hospital Wing. 

"Neat eyebrow." Luna tilted her head at it. 

Harry climbed to his feet and held a hand out to Luna, thanking her dryly. Luna turned her arm, a minute abrasion along her wrist where she caught herself on the stone ground. "C'mon, Madam Pomfrey'll be nicer if you come."

Luna laughed like he was telling a joke and fell into step beside him. "Ready for the holiday, Harry?"

Harry used holding the door to the Hospital Wing open to get away with a noncommittal shrug being his only answer.

"Luna!" Madam Pomfrey's joy was evidently tapered at seeing Harry. "Mister Potter."

"Madam." Harry hopped up on the bed next to Luna and raised his eyebrow. "Don't worry, Rebecca won't be joining us in person. Just her handywork." Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and tapped her wand to his eyebrow, the luminescent yellow fading and the dark shade of normalcy returning. "Thank you."

Luna and Madam Pomfrey chattered happily, ignoring Harry. He sat there and observed his Ravenclaw friend, finding himself unable to keep from smiling at how she insisted Madam Pomfrey tell her how to heal her own scrape and then critique how she did. 

"Potter?" Luna stopped behind Harry as they filed their way out, Harry finding a grin playing at Madam Pomfrey's lips. "Tell Rebecca to keep keep that on the drawing board, yeah?" 

Harry laughed, expecting something snarkier. "I will, thank you for fixing it."

Madam Pomfrey shooed them away, finding the interaction with the two an enjoyable end to a day remedying 'illnesses' provided by left over goods from the snackboxes that plagued her endlessly and a first year who managed to charm his feather into another students ear, along with the other magical maladies and mishaps that occured with so many magic students learning to master their skills.

The hall was emptier than when they had entered, the fires in the Hogwarts emblemed lanterns casting shadows up onto the portraits that stretched up the stone walls. "Is there something you'd like to say?" Luna asked as they approached the corridor that would take her back towards the Ravenclaw quarters. "You've scratched your cheek three times now."

Harry nodded, "There is, actually." He took a quick breath. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to a party with me tomorrow night."

Luna tilted her head at him, "Professor Slughorn's?"

Harry smiled, "Yeah, that's the one."

Luna frowned, "I heard about that, Rebecca's not going with you?" Luna looked away from him and found herself wandering to the window. "I assumed you two would with his absence."

Harry mentally kicked himself, he hadn't even thought to ask of Rebecca wanted them to go together. "No. I didn't even think of that. Bloody hell, that would have been smart."

Luna shrugged, "Might be for the best you didn't offer, no one wants to feel pitied."

Harry paled, "I'm not asking you out of pity. Self-pity, maybe, but none for you." Harry paused a moment, "I'd pity you for wasting an evening with me, but that's it."

Luna considered it a moment and nodded once, "Time with friends is never wasted, I think." Luna turned away from the window and faced Harry with a smile. "What time?"

"I'll get you at seven?" It occured to Harry that he'd have to thank Rebecca for sending him to the Hospital Wing.

"Should I dye my eyebrow yellow?"

*******************************************

After spending the dwindling evening with Harry after Nigel had gone up, Rebecca climbed the girls' stairs with a stone building in her stomach. It had been ages since she'd had a premonition. Madam Pomfrey had said that it was something most witches and wizards grew out of.

But the fact that there was still days to go until they would be going home, until she would know that Fred and everyone was okay, made her sick with worry.

_"I could do it. It might not even work! I can try it and if it does, a headache. If it doesn't, I worry a few more days."_

She was trying to rationalise not telling Hermione or Ginny when she brushed her teeth and still hadn't done so when she climbed into bed. 

"Nigel? You're bringing a fourth year to the party?" Hermione was appalled. 

"I don't see the issue with it. Nigel's like an honorary member of the 'age-will-not-lessen-me' club." Ginny argued.

Rebecca sat up and moved a blanket or two so that she was properly buried. "I needed someone to go with, I found someone to go with."

Hermione caught the odd tone of her voice and knew something was off. "Becs?"

Rebecca stared up at the ceiling. "I'm going to try and look to see if they're all okay."

Ginny didn't say anything, though Hermione instantly tried to convince her otherwise. "Look, I'm not saying no-"

"Well that's good considering I wasn't asking."

"I'm not saying no." Hermione continued like Rebecca hadn't said anything, "But let's think this through. They're all okay enough for McGonagall to not have been involved, or Dumbledore for that matter. Did you consider that?"

Rebecca's silence was all the 'no' that Hermione needed.

"Besides, it might not even work." Ginny's voice was small across the room. 

Rebecca didn't say anything else, though she did scoot over as Ginny climbed across the bed against the window and Hermione lay on the other side of her. "Three days." Hermione said softly. She craned her neck to see the clock, "Nearly two. And tomorrow's going to be busy with the last day of class and then the party, it's practically only one day."

Rebecca hated that her eyes were teary, such a display of weakness because her boyfriend failed to show up. "God, this is pathetic." She whispered, wiping at her cheek roughly. 

"It's not." Ginny wrapped her arm around Rebecca's stomach and put her head on Rebecca's shoulder.

And that's how they fell asleep, wrapped up around under the layered, crooked blankets of Rebecca's bed.

*******************************************

As Rebecca and Nigel were chattering noisily in the common room where Hermione's mystery date was running late, Harry was rushing to meet Luna a few minutes late at Rebecca's insistence that Harry bring her a flower. 

"It's a party!" Rebecca thrust it into his hand. "Every girl deserves a flower."

Nigel grinned cheekily and took a smell of the flower in Harry's hand. "Funny, I don't remember flowers smelling like blueberries."

Rebecca looked away, "It's winter in Scotland, there aren't a lot of natural flowers out there."

*******************************************

Despite the jovial tone of the Christmas-ready castle, there was one Slytherin who slunk around in the shadows. Draco hadn't interrupted Rebecca's usage of the Room of Requirement, and he insisted to himself that it was only because he didn't want to raise any suspicion.

But he knew it would be empty the evening of the Slug Club party and he still had a job to do. Opening the room to the oddities and antiquities he'd asked for, he pulled the red blanket off the cabinet and placed an apple inside.

_"Harmonia Nectere Passus."_

Opening the squeaky door, Draco saw that the apple was gone. A small smile flit across his face. He closed it and repeated the words.

_"Harmonia Nectere Passus."_

Inside was the apple, one large bite taken out of its side.

*******************************************

"Smile, children." Professor Slughorn had a camera set up at the entrance. Nigel excused himself to the table of food, leaving Rebecca and Harry to take a side of the Potions professor and smile at the camera.

Professor Slughorn squeezed Rebecca's shoulder happily as he went off to greet another student. Luna was at their side a second later, the flower Rebecca had insisted on tucked behind her ear. "You look beautiful, Rebecca."

Rebecca looked down, she'd had to borrow a dress from Ginny who was, as she liked to remind Rebecca whenever possible, taller than she was. The dress that ended in the middle of Ginny's thighs ended up closer to Rebecca's knees, though the rest of the dress was fairly well fitting. "These are almost as neat as the necklace you wore last year, the butterbeer cap one."

Luna lit up excitedly at Rebecca remembering something so inconsequential. "I made that!"

Harry smiled and looked around, wishing for a moment that Ron was with them. He regretted that instantly, thinking about how tense the room would be with Ron there. Especially since at the moment, wherever Ron went, Lavender did too.

"Neville?" Neville paused next to the three of them, the girls stopping their conversation to listen.

Neville held out the tray happily, smiling as Luna took one. "I didn't get into the Slug Club." Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "It's alright, he's got Belby handing out towels in the loo."

Harry mentioned something to Luna and they began to talk quickly. Rebecca looked towards the table she'd seen Nigel heading to and found that not only was he not there, Hermione had just ducked behind the curtain at the edge of the room. Rebecca excused herself from Harry and Luna.

"Hermione?" Rebecca asked quietly. Hermione reached through the curtains and pulled her in, looking her over once and nodding.

"You look splendid, did you get one of the pictures?"

Rebecca nodded and looked around. "What are you doing? What happened?"

Hermione fixed her hair, Rebecca reaching over and turning over one of the sleeves of the orange dress she was wearing. "What' happened? I've just escaped." Hermione looked over the sheer-distorted room quickly. "I left Cormac under the mistletoe."

"McLaggen?!" Rebecca hissed, "That's your mystery? Ugh, wish I'd never solved it."

"I know, okay." Hermione shuddered. "He's got more tentacles than a Snarfalump plant." Hermione paled, "Here he comes."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and pushed Hermione lower. "You go on, slip away and keep an eye out for Nigel, he's disappeared." Hermione ducked out of the curtain just as Cormac stepped in, eyeing Rebecca warily.

"You haven't seen Granger, have you?"

"Who?" Rebecca asked, hoping to annoy him away.

"You're slippery little minx of a friend." Rebecca glared at him, though Cormac was too busy surveying their surroundings to notice. "Likes to work her mouth too, doesn't she?"

Rebecca reached into the pocket she'd charmed onto Ginny's dress, justifying the tailoring with the fact that all dresses could use a good pocket, and pulled out a 'mint.' "She does, I've warned her about it."

Cormac smirked and plucked the candy out of her hands sleazily, "Nothing that turns a man off more than-" He popped it into his mouth, the flavour familiar yet unplaceable. "Too...much...talking?"

Just as Professor Snape flew the curtains open with hopes of finding a Potter (Or Potter Weasley) misbehaving, the Puking Pastille took effect. Rebecca had been messing around with a one time dose, so that the giver wouldn't have to provide the antidote half. 

"You've just bought yourself a month's detention, McLaggen." Rebecca ducked back and tried to hurry away before Snape could needle into her. "Not so quick, Potter."

Rebecca put on a sickly sweet smile and took another step. "Me, professor? Potter...?"

Snape turned and left McLaggen to mourn his lost evenings alone. "Potter. Weasley."

Rebecca looked around quickly, the first issue already addressed. "I've really got to go, Professor. I'm looking for-"

"I'm certain the boy can survive your absence another minute or two." Snape intoned, clearly not impressed with her date choice. "Besides, I only wish to convey a message."

"A message?" Rebecca's interest was peaked and she found herself staring up at the ex-Potions professor intensely, her green eyes shining behind glasses that couldn't mask her curiosity.

"From Professor Dumbledore. He asked me to give you your best and he hopes you enjoy your holiday. He's travelling." Snape's eyes narrowed. "He won't return until term resumes."

"Traveling where?" 

Snape looked over her face a brief moment before walking away without answering. Nigel appeared beside her, his cheeks slightly red. "Sorry. I. Had. To." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and revealed one of the colour changing daisies she'd given to him to test a few weeks earlier. Nigel took a deep breath, smiling sheepishly. "You said every girl deserved a flower."

Rebecca took the flower gently, not because she was afraid of turning the light lavender of its petals but because she wasn't sure she could say thank you without being embarrassingly emotional. "Nigel, I-"

"Want to dance?" Nigel finished, shaking his head at any thanking. "This is supposed to be a party, isn't it?" He grabbed her hand and took her to the empty section reserved for students to dance, bobbing his head to the music before grabbing her hand as he had seen Fred do so many times before and twirling her away. 

She laughed, a melodic sound that attracted a few other students over to them. They all had wanted to dance, they just didn't want to be the first to. Lucky for them, a fourth year was there to break the ice.

Hermione watched the two of them with Harry and Luna, smiling. "I'm glad she's having fun."

Luna nodded, sipping from her glass. "Loving from a distance can sometimes hurt as much as loving close." Harry's eyes fell on Ginny across the room, her green dress highlighting the natural vibrancy of her red hair in a way that Harry didn't even know was possible without magic.

Harry sighed, taking a biscuit from the table next to them. "A nice evening will be good for everyone. Especially with-"

The door to the party was thrown open, the bang silencing the party's chatter and the music. Nigel looked over his shoulder at the interruption and scowled, stepping to Rebecca's side with his arms crossed to look as menacing as a fourteen year old can.

"Get your hands off me, you filthy squib!"

*******************************************

Author's Note:

This has taken so much longer than I normally like. The semester's picking up right now and I didn't have much time this weekend. As always, I hope you're enjoying the story. 

Have a good night if it's night and a good day if it's day.

<3


	10. CHAPTER 5

**"Get your hands off me, you filthy squib!"** Draco spat, his arm trapped in the gnarled, iron-shackle resembling grip of Filch. 

Rebecca rolled her eyes at such a rude interruption and the stance Nigel had taken. "Down boy, down." Nigel uncrossed his arms at her poking fun at him, but didn't let the glare directed to Draco fade. Nigel didn't need to know whatever Malfoy had said to Rebecca in the past, the fact that Harry's treatment of Malfoy had gone from schoolground rivalry to blatant animosity was enough for Nigel. 

Unknown to Rebecca, Fred had had spoken with Nigel in the shop one of the days Nigel had pestered his mum into taking him back. Nigel remembered the conversation fondly.

_"Anything new yet?" Nigel asked after running up and down the aisles expertly. He'd had the layout of the shop memorised after his first visit._

_"No, not yet." Fred grinned at the sight of their most enthusiastic customer. "Nothing on the shelf at least."_ _Fred ducked under the counter and motioned for Nigel to lead the way to the back of the shop. "I'm glad you came by today, actually. RJ's popped out for something or other and...I wanted to talk to you."_

_Nigel looked over Fred curiously, something strange entering the older boy's voice. "Yeah, whatever. Once the Army, always the Army."_

_"It's not quite like that." Fred sighed. "George and I won't be returning, not with the shop and all."_

_Nigel nodded. "But Rebecca is."_

_"Yes, of course she is." Fred laughed before growing serious again. "I was hoping you'd keep an eye out for her this year, for George and I."_

_Nigel looked over his shoulder quickly, "She wouldn't like this. She doesn't need anybody 'keeping an eye out.'"_

_Fred nodded, "It's not like that, I know she's able to take care of herself just fine. It's-Things are changing, Nigel. The world is changing. I just need to know that if push goes to shove there'll be someone there doing what I would."_

_Nigel narrowed his eyes at Fred, "Shouldn't you ask Harry?"_

_Fred grinned, "Why would I go and do something like that? I need someone with red hair, we are the smartest, after all."_

Rebecca's hand resting on Nigel's shoulder wrenched him out of his memory. Draco caught Rebecca's eyes a brief moment before turning his gaze to the floor. Nigel glanced at her and found that she appeared emotionless.

"I just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor." Filch spat, his hand now holding Draco by the neck of his shirt and jacket. "He claims to have been invited to your party."

Rebecca knew exactly where Draco had been, it was where she had been spending more afternoons than not.

"Okay, okay!" Draco tried to pull himself free. "I was gatecrashing. Happy?"

Snape stepped forward from where he was watching the interaction carefully. "I'll escort him out."

Draco stared up at the man disdainfully, the first hint to Rebecca that there was something off. Draco had had his differences with Snape as anyone else had, though nowhere near as many altercations as Rebecca or Harry. "Certainly, professor." Draco's tone dripped in malice.

"Alright everyone! Carry on, carry on!" Professor Slughorn waved his arms in the middle of the room, the conversations quickly building back up to the dull roar they had been at before the interruption. Turning towards where he had seen Rebecca and Nigel, he put his arms on his hips. "Where'd she go?"

Nigel whirled around, finding not only that Rebecca wasn't behind him anymore, but that she was entirely out of his sight too. Nigel ran a hand through his hair and did the only thing he could think of: Cover for her. "Loo. Said she'd be back in a moment though." 

Harry was trapped between Luna and Hermione, both of which noticed how he had stared after the door Draco and Snape had exited moments earlier. "Don't even think about it. You don't need to cause any trouble. It'll find us anyway." Hermione warned.

Harry watched Rebecca slip out and he relaxed, he'd know what the Slytherins spoke about anyway. "You're right, Hermione." 

Hermione glowed at such an easily earned admittance. "Thank you, I tend to be if you two would listen to me more often."

Rebecca had her back up against a wall in the corridor adjacent to the one Draco and Snape were in, her ears straining to hear their every word.

"Maybe I did hex that Bell girl. Maybe I didn't. What's it to you?" Draco spoke callously.

Rebecca's hand shot to her mouth. _"She nearly died!"_

There was a scuff and then a clatter, she thought that Snape was holding Draco to the wall. Rebecca considered peering around the corner to check, but didn't want to risk being caught before they were through talking. She needed to know now. She needed to know if Draco really was a Death Eater.

"I swore to protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow."

Draco's words carried clearly through the 'empty' hall. "I don't need protection. I was chosen for this. Out of all the others, me." There was a long pause. "And I won't fail him."

Rebecca's heart felt like it had crawled up into her throat. There was so much running through her head. She knew what it felt like to be chosen for something you wanted nothing to do with, she knew what it was like to be pressured by things you had nothing to do with. But she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Draco was actively doing whatever Voldemort had commanded him to. 

"You're afraid, Draco." Snape's words snapped her out of her spiral. "You attempt to conceal it but it's obvious. Let me assist you."

"No!" Draco couldn't hide the pain from his voice. He had to do this exactly as he was, alone. "I was chosen."

Hurrying back to the party where she hoped no one had noticed her absence, Rebecca's mind was a mess. It remained that way until she, Nigel, Harry, and Hermione returned to the common room that night.

"Ready for Christmas?" Nigel asked, still trying to draw her out of the distracted state she'd been in through the end of the party. 

Realising they'd be on the train before she knew it was enough to shove her concern for Draco lower in her head. "I'm sorry, I've been a horrible date."

Nigel grinned, "Considering you've got a boyfriend already, I wasn't expecting much. Hope I was satisfactory?"

She punched his shoulder, confused as to how quickly he'd grown up. "You've been brilliant, as you are. The flower was a nice touch." Rebecca wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly. Nigel lowered himself slightly so that his arms went around her shoulders.

Before letting go of him, Rebecca turned her head and kissed his cheek. "Have a happy Christmas, Nigel."

Nigel righted himself and wouldn't meet her eyes, a blush across his cheeks that showed even in the dim light of the common room. "You, too."

*******************************************

"He said 'Unbreakable Vow?'" Ron asked in the train, ignoring the fact that Rebecca rolled her eyes so exaggeratedly at his repeated question. "You're positive?"

Rebecca had her back to the window and her feet up on the bench towards the spot she insisted remain empty in case Hermione joined them. Facing away from the window, Rebecca had hoped that if she didn't look at the snow falling into the already-deeply-coated landscape she could escape the chill that permeated the train. Harry was on Ron's side of the bench and was munching on the end of an apple pasty from the cart.

"Yes, I'm sure. Why?"

"You can't break an Unbreakable Vow." Ron leaned forward in his seat, his elbows reading on his knee.

"I worked that part out myself, funnily enough." Rebecca quipped. Hermione had told her to be nice so that the holidays went well, but then as she and Rebecca were walking past Lavender and Ron on the platform Lavender turned to Ron and asked if Molly was able to let out the seams in clothes. Rebecca had looked over her outfit angrily, there was nothing about it that even hinted towards needing bigger clothes.

Her jeans simply fit her, they weren't too big and they weren't too small. Her shirt was mostly hidden by the jumper she wore and her shoes were the same trainers she always wore, it was just an attempt to rile her up. 

"Just try to have a good holiday." Hermione's warning echoed in Rebecca's mind and forced her to soften her tone.

"What's so special about an Unbreakable Vow, aside from the fact that it can't be broken?" She repeated a little less harshly.

"You don't understand." Ron paled as he turned to the closed compartment door where Lavender had appeared, pausing his explanation. "Bloody hell." He whispered under his breath.

Lavender exhaled onto the glass of the door twice before tracing her finger in a large heart that she promptly filled with _"R + L"_ and surrounded with x's. "I miss you." Lavender mouthed before exhaling over the drawing again so that it stayed longer. Harry spent the time through the awkward interaction wiping his hands on his pants, while Rebecca stared at the door with a twist of disgust over her lips.

When Lavender finally left, Rebecca turned her head to Ron. "Lovely."

Ron's face took on a strange emotion, Rebecca couldn't place if it was happiness or fear. "All she wants to do is snog me. My lips are getting chapped, look!" 

Harry laughed at how Rebecca leaned away from him and told Ron that she'd, "Take his word for it."

Hermione paused at the door, her hand resting on the handle before looking over the still present work of 'art.' Rebecca grimaced and tried to motion towards the seat she'd saved, but Hermione have her a subtle shake of her head before continuing farther down the train.

Ron looked at his hands, saying nothing. Rebecca sat up straight in her chair and stood up, stretching her legs before plucking a licorice wand off Harry's pile. She hadn't really expected the usual chocolate wand, not after their newest revelation and the incident in the Room of Requirement, but there was still a deep feeling of loss that permeated her at the ending of the tradition she'd had with Draco for years.

"So what happens?" Harry asked quickly, not liking seeing the of them with such sad expressions. "What happens if you break an Unbreakable Vow?"

Ron's answer came after only a moment of hesitation, not because he had to think about it but because he didn't want to give words to such a consequence so close to Christmas. "You die."

*******************************************

Rebecca excused herself from their compartment a few minutes before they were set to arrive. The first thing she'd done was hunt down Nigel. Luckily enough for her, this brought her to two of her other stops: Louis and Yara.

All three students were elated to see Rebecca, even more so once she revealed the three wrapped envelopes from her pocket. "Christmas presents are to be opened on Christmas." Rebecca raised an eyebrow mysteriously, "I would wait if I were you."

Louis grinned and lifted the edge of the envelope's flap barely. "Wicked." Rebecca patted Nigel's head before stepping back out, not needing to thank him again for Slughorn's party. 

Ginny was sitting with Hermione, Luna, and Neville farther down the hall, though her head shot to the door when Rebecca opened it without knocking. "Bloody hell, ever hear of knocking first?" 

Rebecca looked at Ginny confused, "Yes?"

Ginny stood up and left the compartment, "You should try it sometime!"

Rebecca looked to Hermione with an open mouth, "The hell's that about?"

Hermione stood up and hugged Rebecca, wishing her a happy Christmas before answering. "Anthony's been hunting her down the entire ride, not exactly catching the hint that she doesn't want to spend every waking second with him."

Rebecca sighed, "Always something." Hermione stepped into the hall with Rebecca and walked towards the end of the train, knowing that there's be a line to exit towards the front. "You'd think this train would go a little faster!" Rebecca sighed as the train crawled into King's Cross. 

The first year at the door stepped to the side, giving Rebecca a momentary glimpse out into the station. She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears, closing her eyes a short moment.

"Ready?" Hermione couldn't help but feel happy for her, it had clearly run a number on them all with no contact with their family, but Fred's lack of arrival had worried Hermione and Harry more than they let on. They both decided that she couldn't detect any doubt in them, her best friend and her brother needed to stand as a united front.

Rebecca opened her mouth to answer at the exact moment the train doors hissed and swung open. Hermione grinned and pushed her forward. Rebecca hit the ground of the platform and ran out, the first student to step away from the train. Platform 9 and 3/4s was hushed and muted, much more so than years in the past.

*******************************************

Fred had spent the last hour walking back and forth and bouncing from foot to foot, driving George and Cedric batty. They'd told him there was no point in getting there so early and that he was only going to end up waiting longer, but Fred refused to listen. It had been days since Fred had said a word to Molly, the one he blamed for not letting him go to the tunnel on the night he was supposed to.

Fred knew he could have gone if he wanted to, he was an adult by law. But Molly had told him that if he were to go after being told not to, he would be forbidden from seeing Rebecca a single second over the holidays. She went as far as to tell him he'd spend the time at Aunt Muriel's!

So Fred didn't. Instead, he had given Molly the cold shoulder. By the time the train rolled in, Fred's nerves felt like short-circuited bundles of electricity, his body seemed to hum in anticipation.

He couldn't help but smile as she tore off the train, the first one. She turned away from him, searching the crowds for any face that looked familiar. Behind Fred, Molly and Arthur apparated with Bill and Fleur seconds behind.

Rebecca turned and saw him, his hair messy and dark shadows under his eyes that told her he hadn't been sleeping well, perhaps at all. Rebecca stepped forward as Fred did, the two of them running until they hit each other. A tangle of wrapping arms around each other so tightly it hurt and yet, they couldn't loosen their hold on the other. Fred cupped the side of her face and kissed her desperately before burying his face into her neck and holding the back of her head against him.

Fleur glanced up at Bill, a smile playing on her face. Bill rolled his eyes, "Pourquoi sourire?"

Fleur grabbed his hands, "Good." Fleur thought a moment before continuing unsurely. "I smile because this is right." Bill nodded, understanding what she was saying.

Arthur grabbed Molly's hand, offering her a brief smile before he looked over the quickly filling platform. "Let's get them out of here."

Arthur laid a hand on Fred's shoulder, looking past them for the others. "Later, Fred. Get back first."

Fred reached out for her hand, scanning her face as he did so. "Ready?" Rebecca nodded. Fred opted for outside the front door, wanting to try and warn her. "There's something you have to know."

Rebecca looked up to him slowly, "Why you didn't get to the tunnel?" He nodded, anger flaring up in him. Anger that left as quickly as it came with her next sentence. "I'm glad you didn't."

He was taken back, "What?"

"You didn't go because there was trouble, right?" Fred nodded. "Then by not going, you kept yourself, and I would imagine, everyone else safe." A frigid, icy wind blew over them. "Can we go in? I can handle it, whatever it is."

Fred swung the door open and stepped inside first. Turning the light in the hall on, Rebecca gasped. She'd expected something bit, but not this.

There, in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, were Sirius and Remus.

*******************************************

The Burrow quickly dissolved into madness, Rebecca and Harry switching their usual roles as Harry demanded answers and Rebecca held onto Sirius and Remus silently. Taking care not to touch skin, Sirius patted her back slowly. Fred lingered to the side of them, not hearing any of the madness around him and worrying about this uncharacteristic silence coming from her.

"QUIET!" Arthur shouted, his face red. "If you'd all be quiet for a moment, we can calmly discuss what's happened." Harry and Ron followed the oldest Weasley man into the dining room where Harry took the seat on the other side of Sirius, Rebecca on the other side of Remus, and Fred took the other side of her.

Arthur laid his hands on the table. "Sirius and Remus were off for the Order, searching for something that could change the tide of the war." Arthur let Sirius take over as he raised a hand lightly off the table.

The side of Sirius' face was a dark purple and, in what could be seen from the sleeves of his shirt, scratches and cuts marred his arms. "The Death Eaters are looking for it too. Whatever it is." Sirius leaned back and laid a hand against his ribs, pain emanating as he tried to project his voice loud enough for them all to hear him.

Remus settled a hand on his leg and took over. "But, they didn't fail to leave a trap. That's where we've been."

"How'd you get out?" Harry asked. "Where were you?"

Remus chuckled dryly. "That's the trap, we were nowhere." Remus explained that the hole they'd been trapped in had been charmed to constantly be changing its location. "That's what took the Order so long to find us, soon as they had a trail we were somewhere else."

Rebecca bit her lip. Fred grabbed her hand on the table and held it between his. Molly spoke in the silence that followed the half-truth Sirius and Remus had agreed to give them, the children weren't to know that they'd been captured and only escaped out of luck. "As for the post, the Ministry scans every owl that goes."

"And the Ministry is his now, isn't it? Voldemort's?" The silence that followed Rebecca's question was the only answer she needed.

Molly clapped her hands and walked around the table, inspecting each child she walked past and noting that Fred didn't pull away from her. "That's enough. We are here, we are together, and we are going to eat." 

Sirius laid a hand against his stomach, "Molly, please. No more food."

Nervous laughter spread across the table, Sirius' complaints bringing the focus away from his battered appearance. "Not a word, Mister." Molly shooed them all upstairs, telling them to put their trunks from the pile into their rooms and wash up.

Fred and George levitated the trunks, leaving the kids to push them up the stairs where Rebecca popped hers open and shoved the shrunken trunks into her pocket to show after dinner. Fred lingered in the doorway, wanting nothing more than to hold her but worried that she was more upset than she'd put off.

"You coming or not?" She tossed over her shoulder before slipping her jumper off and climbing onto her bed. Fred stepped in slowly before climbing over her and pulling her back against his chest, wrapping himself around her as completely as he could. Rebecca let her hand rest on his where it dangled over her and sighed in content.

Fred kissed her temple before leaving a trail down her jaw and pausing at the corner of her mouth. "I wanted to go. I fought to go."

Rebecca turned back enough to see his face. "I know." She grabbed the back of his head and kissed him exactly as she'd wanted to since they'd seen each other last.

*******************************************

They didn't leave each other's side a moment. Not through dinner, not through clean up, not as the adults settled in the living room around them. They were inseparable, and they loved every second of it.

Fred laughed as he told her about how the new beaters hardly knew how to swing the bat. Rebecca grinned as Fred told her he and George seemed to have hit a dry spell for ideas.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Rebecca said ominously before glancing towards the hall. Fred stood up and grabbed her hand, sending George a look across the living room that made him and Cedric follow after them.

Harry had his back to the couch, Sirius over one shoulder and Remus over the other, and he smiled as they left. He thought it was funny, in hindsight, to think about some of the rows he'd gotten them into over Fred. Seeing how she was when they were apart though--Harry would be fine if they were never separate again.

Molly couldn't help a small shake of her head as the four of them clomped up the stairs noisily, she knew exactly what they were going to talk about. Seeing Fred out of the clouds that had followed him around left her feeling equally as sentimental as Harry was.

Fred and George picked up the random things from the middle of their room and tossed them all into a pile, ignoring the eye rolls of the other two in the room. Cedric reached a hand out for her. She grabbed his hand and tilted her head.

 _"I'm glad you're back."_ Cedric's consciousness brushed against hers.

 _"Nowhere near as much as I am."_ Rebecca thought, trying to contain her elation enough so that Cedric wasn't overwhelmed by it. 

Cedric grinned and let go, shaking his head. "I don't think anyone could be."

George jumped onto the bed and put his head on Cedric's shoulder, "Are you showing us something or are we going to sit all day?"

Rebecca laughed, having missed George's sass. "Are you going to grow these or are we going to sit and look at two shrunken trunks all day?"

Fred held his wand over one and then the other, George muttering something to Cedric who kissed George's forehead with a smile.

"Now, a warning-" George groaned loudly. "Everything's been tested, but most still needs a good name." Rebecca smiled sheepishly, "Seems I lose my touch without you lot."

Fred kissed the top of her head before taking a seat next to where she pulled the trunk up to the bed. Spreading out all that she'd made and explaining what they did took much longer than any of them had expected, though their attention never wavered. 

"This here? A favourite of Nigel's already. Say, George. Still feeling cheeky?" Rebecca held the little bird to her lips and whispered his name deviously.

George jumped up, knowing the glint in her eyes all too well. "Rebecca, Becs, RJ...Let's not be hasty now. All in good fun, yeah?"

Rebecca nodded her head to the door, "I'll give you five seconds." Fred eyed the little metal shape with a quizzical expression. "Five! Four! Three!" George's footsteps reverberated down the stairs. "I have a feeling you'll like this one, darling." Rebecca tossed the shiny metal out into the hall where it skittered noisily. 

"Wotcher!" Tonks' shout made the three of them down stairs, Cedric and the auror well acquainted. "George, you'll kill someone barrelling around like that!"

Now at the bottom of the stairs, Tonks smiled and pulled Rebecca into a hug. "I take it you're what he's running from?"

Rebecca denied weakly. "Oh no, not me."

Tonks held her hand out, "Whatever it is, I want one. Black turned my hair red and I haven't gotten him back yet."

They'd moved to the back door as they talked, George sprinting around the yard in strange shapes to deter whatever was chasing him. "What's wrong with red hair?" Rebecca doubled back at the original complaint, "Couldn't you turn it right back?" 

Fred gave Tonks a wry smile. "Not trying to hurt my feelings now, are you?" Fred turned his attention back out the door. "Love, what exactly does this do?"

Rebecca grabbed another and handed it to Tonks, "It's a surprise." Tonks grinned and put it in her pocket. 

"I'll get him when he's not expecting it, more of a victory. And yes, I did turn it right back. It's the principle" Cedric followed Tonks away, the Hufflepuffs finding camaraderie in the house full of Gryffindors. 

George stopped and stood in the snow, resigning himself to whatever his fate was. "DAMN!" He shouted, jumping up and stomping his feet until whatever had latched onto his toes released him. 

"Toe biting?" Fred laughed and leaned against the door frame as George bent to the ground and made a snowball. "That's a new one." Fred waved his wand lazily, the snowball George launched at them hitting an invisible barrier a few feet ahead of them. George scowled and hurried back to the house, Molly scolding him for going out without shoes on.

Fred put his legs on either side of her and pulled her against him where she laid her head against his chest. Fred's hand crept around until it rested on the small of her back and both Fred and Rebecca thought the same thing.

_"I'm home."_

*******************************************

Author's Note:

This one's a touch shorter than I tend to like, but I think the ending's too sweet to sully with another section. Two in a two days? Talk about crazy.

Enjoy!

<3


	11. CHAPTER 6

**Fred slept in Rebecca's bed that night** , though Rebecca would have asked him to stay if he hadn't. She fell asleep quickly, her conglomeration of blankets keeping them two of them comfortably warm as the wind howled against the windows.

He pressed his lips against her forehead and tried to turn his thoughts towards sleep. Fred moved himself lower on the bed, ignoring the fact that his feet were hanging off and put his head on her arm. 

"Go to sleep." Rebecca whispered, a smile playing across her lips. 

"Why aren't you?" Fred whispered back, looking up at her staying-closed eyes.

"I am." Fred chuckled and nestled his head farther onto her. "Fred!"

"I'm sorry, I can't stop thinking."

Rebecca sighed and cracked open one eye, any trace of being upset at being up so late wiped away by the happiness evident on her face. "About what? Maybe if you get it out of your head you'll sleep."

Fred stared at her a moment before turning on his side and wrapping his arm around her middle. "You." His fingers grazed her arm as he let traced meaningless shapes on her skin. "I can't stop thinking about you."

Rebecca laid her hand along his, holding his arm against her and rubbed his back. "Sleep. You can only be sweet in normal waking hours." Fred closed his eyes and fake snored, making her laugh. "I heard Harry and Ron earlier, something about sledding."

Fred nodded, "I did too."

"Then go to sleep so you're not grumpy for it!" Fred shook his head, causing her to reach up and take the pillow from where he'd pushed it to the side to hold it to his face. She lifted it and grinned, "Tired now?"

"Murdered, more like." Fred sighed and closed his eyes against her before talking softly. "You really should go to sleep. Don't know why you're keeping me up like this." Rebecca shushed him and peered over the room to make sure Ginny was still sleeping. "Love, why're you looking? You know as well as I that you couldn't see a hippogriff that far without your specs."

"I'd be able to see if she was marching over here to kill us both for waking her." Rebecca laid her head back on her pillow. "Sleepy yet?"

Fred tried to say no, but then yawned. "A little."

Rebecca kissed the top of his head and closed her eyes again, both of them asleep in minutes.

While inching her way out of Fred's grip had been an interesting start to the day, nothing had prepared her for the pandemonium of downstairs. People were moving in and out of rooms, weaving past other members of the Order with brief, hushed words passing between them. 

Seeing Rebecca plod down the stairs in her pajamas, sleep still heavy in her eyes, Molly stared at her and pointed down the hall. "Table. Now."

The sheer seriousness of the words startled Rebecca right awake, following after Molly questioning all the while. "What's wrong? Something happen? Sirius and Rem? It's not da-Oh."

"Sit." Arthur pointed at the chair that was open, Order members spread around the table with Harry at the center. In front of her male counterpart, the books she'd nicked from the library about the Wollstone's Wood, Centaurian prophecies and traditions, and the atlas of Hogwarts' surrounding areas. 

Harry offered her a grimace as Molly folded her hands in front of her. "Explain. This had better be good, young lady."

*******************************************

"Yes, that's it." Rebecca rolled her neck, sore after such a strenuous interrogation. Arthur kept circling back to anything Wilhomena had said, scratching notes onto a piece of paper to look into when he was able to slip away in the Ministry. Sirius and Remus were enthralled in the translating sweets, both unable to move past the fact that she had just 'whipped them up,' as they said. Molly had remained largely silent, pursing her lips as the details of the prophecy were relayed to them all.

Harry, as she had learned, had accidently left a book of hers downstairs the night before after taking it out to ask Sirius a quick question. One thing led to another and Harry had been ambushed as she had when he went downstairs.

"But it's not that big a deal," Rebecca was the first to speak in the silence that followed. The prophecy's dooming end had become a fact she was well-acquainted with, she'd come to terms with it and knew that Molly needed to see that she wasn't afraid. Not unafraid because the prophecy didn't apply to her, Rebecca was certain it did. 

No, Rebecca thought if Molly believed that Rebecca thought it didn't, life would be a little easier for the time being. "Professor McGonagall said that this prophecy has belonged to more witches and wizards than any other, including, um...Regulus." Rebecca winced at how quickly Sirius turned his head to her. "I happened upon his diaries, hidden in a Slytherin closet, tucked away. He-" Sirius eyes' bore into hers. "He brought back a muggle woman, like I can. She was the one he had to kill to be initiated." Rebecca became very interested in her hands. "He didn't want to be a Death Eater, not in the end."

Sirius grabbed Remus' arm roughly, stilling his shaking hands. Sirius put his head down, holding Remus' hands to his forehead. "I hated him. I've cursed him and his weakness, I've-"

"Continue, Rebecca." Remus directed, soothing Sirius quietly.

"Other than that, I've got nothing else." Harry cleared his throat, but didn't speak. "What?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Malfoy."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed on him. "You can speak, too, you know."

The weight of Molly's gaze landing on Harry forced him to explain. Harry rushed through a haphazard explanation, stumbling a bit towards the end as every eye on the room stared at him as they had Rebecca.

"You're saying Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?" Remus clarified. "Has it occured to you that Snape, as you have accused of being involved, was pretending to help Draco to figure out what he was up to?"

"That's not what it sounded like." Rebecca stepped in, remembering Snape's tone in the hall during the Slug Club's Christmas party.

"Perhaps they're right, Remus." Tonks tried to help. She'd been adamant that the last thing they needed was a full blown investigation the first morning they were there. "To make an Unbreakable Vow, it's-"

Remus rolled his eyes, "It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement. Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore I do."

"Shouldn't we make our judgements for ourselves?" Rebecca asked.

"Dumbledore's made mistakes, he's said so himself!" Harry argued.

"You're both blinded by hatred!" Remus shouted, pointing at them both.

Sirius stood up and let go of Remus' hands, shaking his head slowly. "James trusted Peter with his whole heart and look where that got him." Sirius cleared his throat, his voice growing hoarse. "We can only place our trust in a handful of people, if we start fighting amongst ourselves we're doomed." Remus nodded, agreeing with him. Sirius reached his hand out and grabbed Rebecca's shoulder, the end of his finger brushing against her collarbone. _"But suspicions must be met with investigation, condoned or not."_

Rebecca nodded to him, agreeing with his unspoken and spoken message. Fred appeared in the hallway and smiled at them all, unaware of the darkened tone of the room. "What's going on in here? Party and I wasn't invited?"

Molly stood up abruptly and grabbed Fred by the ear, dragging him out of the room and ignoring his crying out. Arthur paled and stood up calmer. "Clearly, that will be all. Thank you for sharing what you've learned."

Rebecca squeezed past Tonks and the wall, jumping out into the hallway right behind Arthur. "What's happening with them--Mum and Fred? I don't understand."

Arthur ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Rebecca, that was a lot of information that should have been conveyed to your acting guardians! He hasn't said a word, not a single word."

Rebecca nodded, "I agree, but McGonagall probably just thought with the post as it is-"

"There's no excusing this." Molly spoke from behind him, Fred rubbing his ear behind her poutily. "Criminally negligent, that's what this was." Molly pulled Rebecca into her arms and scooped Harry in as he walked past. "I'm so sorry my sweets."

Harry looked at Rebecca worried, "Don't be sorry, we're fine."

Rebecca nodded and kissed Molly's cheek before stepping back. "Perfectly fine."

Molly sighed and shook her head, "Let's go, breakfast will smooth everything over."

Fred grumbled, "Says who?" Molly turned back to him. "Says me!" Fred corrected quickly.

*******************************************

"An eventful start to the day, albeit a necessary one." Arthur spoke to Rebecca post lunch that day, digging around in his workshop. "You must excuse Remus. His condition--It takes a toll on him."

"What about you and mum? You alright?" Rebecca followed him around as he fiddled with muggle oddities he had spread around everywhere. "Honest."

Arthur sighed and eased himself on to a stool, Rebecca shoved her hands into her pockets. The little shed didn't have much for insulation and the jumper she was wearing didn't either. "We're being followed, all of us."

"By the Death Eaters?" Rebecca clarified. 

Arthur nodded. "Most days Molly doesn't leave the house. It's not been easy. Then the post..." Arthur sat back. "As to what you said earlier, about Dumbledore traveling." Rebecca leaned against the table, listening carefully. "If he's traveling, that's news to the Ministry. Perhaps that's the way he wants it, I don't know. As for Draco Malfoy, I know a bit more." Arthur waited for her to meet his eyes before preempting his knowledge with a warning, "I know you Rebecca, at least I like to think I do. I'm only telling you this because I know that you have the heart to let your own observations influence your opinions and the sense to be wary and cautious."

"Thank you."

Arthur continued. "I sent an agent to Borgin and Burkes. From what they saw and you said you lot saw in Diagon Alley, I think the object he's interested in is a vanishing cabinet."

"A vanishing cabinet?" Rebecca hadn't heard of them.

"They were all the rage when Voldemort first rose to power, you can see the appeal. The Death Eaters come knocking, one only had to slip inside and disappear for an hour or two. They can transport you almost anywhere, though their tricky contraptions. Very tempermental."

"What happened to the one at Borgin and Burkes?" 

"Nothing." Arthur could see the cogs working behind her eyes, the thoughts racing. "But that's enough depressing matter for the day, I do think." Arthur stood up and clasped her shoulder as he led the way out of his dimly lit work space, "I do believe there are some sleds around that need using."

*******************************************

"That is cheating!" Rebecca shouted in laughter as Fred charmed the string of the sled to pull the two of them around the yard. 

"No, this is cheating." Fred leaned forward from behind her and kissed her cheek before having the sled move faster up the hill, zipping around the walking Harry and Ginny narrowly before releasing the spell back at the top. "Want to go again?"

Rebecca nodded and the two of them tore down the hill as they had been for ages. "Easily amused, aren't they?" Ginny asked Harry, nudging him with her arm. The two of them, as they were both still unable to use magic outside of Hogwarts, were stuck walking up the hill after each turn down.

"For prank shop owners, I think you have to be." Harry quipped, eliciting a laugh from Ginny that danced across the snow and stayed in Harry's ears long after it ended.

Ron trudged between them, moving Ginny to the side roughly. "Bloody git could offer to send us up too." Ron looked over his shoulder and sent a glare to George and Cedric who were watching from in the kitchen, "George said I'd have to test ten things for him, and seeing what Rebecca's been up to so far I'm not risking it."

"Smart." Harry found himself reduced to one-word answers for the rest of their conversation, cross at the interruption with Ginny. Harry was already mauled with indecision and internal conflict: He knew he felt things for Ginny, things so much more a friendship with his best mate's sister ought to have. And after Ron's reaction to Anthony, Harry knew it would send Ron into a fit if Harry said or acted on anything. He didn't want a fight, he just wanted what Rebecca and Fred flaunted unknowingly. He just wanted love.

"We're headed in!" Rebecca shouted over the distance from she and Fred at the door back into the house, Harry and Ron still climbing the hill to go back down. "Don't freeze!"

"Have fun?" George asked, sliding the mugs Molly had asked he and Cedric to make sure were given the second any of the loons outside came in. "Mum's orders."

Rebecca's mittens hung out of her pocket, her cheeks glowing from the cold wind. "You two really missed out!" Fred smiled at her and took a sip of the steaming hot chocolate Cedric put in front of him. Her excitement was contagious and soon the three of them were talking quickly. He admired her quietly, George noting his distraction.

"Ced? You were going to show me the card your mum sent, right?" George grabbed Cedric's hand and walked towards the stairs.

"Didn't I already show you alr-Oh! Yes, I was!" George's sharp look made Cedric correct himself instantly. "Let's go...look."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow at Fred over the edge of her mug, the steam from the drink fogging her glasses. "Clearing a room? Whatever would you do that for?"

Fred shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about. Why would I want to be alone with you?"

Rebecca put her mug on the counter behind her and walked closer to him, standing between his legs as he held her hands between them. "I'm not sure, why would you?"

Fred looked behind him to make sure Ginny was still outside and gave Rebecca a cheeky smile, "Do you want to listen to some records?"

"You fiend!" Rebecca kissed him quickly before skipping away towards the stairs. "Are you coming?"

*******************************************

The days of the week and a half leading up to Christmas were spent similarly, Fred and Rebecca side by side as long as they could. The shop was closed for the holiday, both an idea of Fred and George's to be able to spend as much time with family as possible and an insistence of the Order in the face of another Diagon Alley attack.

Christmas morning was a happy affair, Tonks, Remus, and Sirius having apparated in early that morning for a breakfast of cookies before everyone piled into the living room where the tree had a small mound of brightly wrapped presents tucked under its lowest branches.

Fred and Rebecca were tucked into the chair really meant for one, though neither of them complained. Fred had his arm around her neck and resting on the arm of the chair on the other side of her. Bill and Fleur were supposed to be joining them later for lunch. Molly and Arthur were next to each other on two kitchen chairs next to the tree to hand out gifts while Sirius and Remus were on either end of the couch, Harry, Ron, and Ginny between them. Cedric and George were sitting on the floor in front of the couch, grinning at each other as Tonks came in the room with a lit up elf hat. 

"When I figure out which one of you came up with Irremovable Hats, whoever it is, I will kill you." She warned ominously before slumping onto the floor next to Molly's chair.

"That's bloody brilliant!" Rebecca turned to Fred expectantly, "When'd you do that?"

"I didn't." Fred glanced at George and Cedric, "Lads?" Both boys shook their heads confused. Sirius squeaked, unable to hold back the eruption of laughter that poured out of his mouth as 

Remus rolled his eyes and apologised. "I'm so sorry, Dora. I tried to convince him not to."

Molly grabbed the first gift before fists were thrown and handed it to Ginny with a smile. "Here, love, pass it down." 

When everyone had a parcel in their lap, Arthur waved for them to open them up. In each child's hands was a Weasley Christmas jumper. Fred and George peeked over at the jumper of their partners, laughing and thanking Molly. The colours of the couples were inverted: Fred's sweater maroon with a red 'F' and Rebecca's red with a maroon 'R'. 

The cracking of apparation and the subsequent calling of 'Happy Christmas' from Bill and Fleur sent most of the kids running into the kitchen, Sirius, Remus, Molly, Arthur, staying in the living room where Fred and Rebecca found themselves too comfortable to move.

"There's another package down there, isn't there Molly?" Sirius asked, leaning forward and pointing to a small poorly wrapped bundle. "Right there?"

Molly picked it up and turned it over in her hands, the paper old newspaper comics. Comics involving the antics of a fat orange cat. "It's for you two." Molly glanced at Sirius and Remus before handing it over the Fred's outstretched hand.

"We weren't doing gifts this year." Rebecca felt her cheeks warm at the shame of not having gotten them anything. "We agreed."

Sirius raised an eyebrow cheekily, "I don't remember agreeing to anything."

Remus laid his hand on Sirius' bouncing leg, "Just open it, before he implodes." Sirius nodded.

Fred used the arm not wrapped around her while Rebecca helped undo the newspaper until two small circles landed on their laps. Turning it over, Fred looked to them questioningly. "A mirror?"

"Look in it, you duffer."

Rebecca turned her mirror to see Fred staring back at her. "They see each other! The mirrors are connected!" Fred tilted the mirror from side to side, Rebecca never leaving his view. "Can we talk through them too?"

Sirius had hardly nodded once before Rebecca jumped up out of the chair and threw her arms around the two men, holding them in a tight hug. Fred watched the image in his mirror turn black as it was smothered between them. Fred held the mirror gingerly, terrified of anything happening to what he expected to become a lifeline to him. Arthur and Molly were the next to be embraced dearly by Rebecca, Sirius and Remus climbing to their feet as Fred looked at them with emotions flashing across his face.

"I don't-" Fred couldn't make his mouth say anything coherent. How do you word, "You just fixed everything?"

Sirius grinned and pulled the tall boy down for a hug, Remus being roped into by Sirius' hand around his husband's middle. "Found them in Grimmauld, thought you two could get some use out of them."

Fred opened his arm a little as Rebecca laid a hand on his back. "These are brilliant." She sniffed and grabbed Sirius' hand. _"There's nothing in the world that I can do to thank you enough. Not for this."_

Sirius shook his head, Remus and Fred having an idea as to what they were discussing. _"Life, Rebecca. Life and love. You've already given me everything I could ever want."_

Rebecca laughed, turning into Fred's arm. Remus stepped back to Arthur and Molly, Sirius following suit a moment after. Fred had a hand in the middle of her back and another on the back of her head, Rebecca's hands in front of her on his chest.

Arthur wiped his cheek quickly, Molly laughing softly. "Arthur?"

Arthur looked down at her and gave her a sad smile before kissing her. "I love you."

Remus' head lifted, the smell of something being warmed in the kitchen drawing his attention towards the hall. "Let's go, you nutter. I know how you feel about hot chocolate." Sirius' exit left the two embracing groups: Fred whispering to Rebecca as Molly did to Arthur.

"These mirrors..." Rebecca looked up at Fred, grabbing his shirt without tightly and tilting her head into a heated kiss.

"Let's go!" George called from the kitchen, "Bill's got something to say!" Molly sighed and fell into step behind Fred and Rebecca, muttering something about youth. 

Fleur beamed at Rebecca as she entered, the only woman in the house that Fleur could count on a friendly greeting. Rebecca let go of Fred's hand to go to the cabinet under the hob where Rebecca had hidden a jar of French Fancies for when the opportunity arose. Popping one into her mouth, Rebecca wiggled her eyebrows at Fleur. "Bonjour! Joyeux Noel!" **(Hello! Happy Christmas!)**

"Rebecca, qu'est que tu fais?" **(Rebecca, what are you doing?)**

"Quelque chose que j'ai fait pour toi et Gabrielle, un Français Fancy! Maintenant je parle français et j'écoute français!" **(Something that I made for you and Gabrielle, a French Fancy! Now I speak french and I hear french!)** Fleur clapped her hands in excitement, the sound of her mother tongue a gift in itself. Rebecca's mouth dropped open, "Est-ce une nouvelle bague?" Fred looked between Rebecca's eyes at the ring on Fleur's hand, understanding what Rebecca asked without needing a Fancy.

Fleur nodded, "Bill and I," 

Bill stepped in, entwining her fingers in his and smiling out at his family. "I've asked Fleur to marry me."

*******************************************

"So, marriage." Fred asked that night as he and Bill started hand washing the plates from dinner. Both men could magically do away with them, but the kitchen was a welcome respite from the celebration winding down in the other rooms of the house.

Bill grinned and nodded, he couldn't help it. "Marriage." Fred handed Bill the next plate, afraid to ask his next question. "What is it?" Bill laughed, "I thought she was mental too, if that's what you're trying to say. Still think she is, honestly."

Fred shook his head, chuckling. "I'm certain she is, but that's not it." Fred turned the sink off and turned around so that his back was to the counter, crossing his arms in discomfort. "Did you ask because of everything going on?"

Bill leaned against the counter behind him, taking a similar stance. "Yes and no. I would have liked to wait longer." Bill looked up in alarm, "Not because I think I'd change my mind or anything, I know I won't. She makes me happy and I clearly must for her to have said yes." Bill sighed, "But you know how things are going. If anything were to happen-"

"Which it won't." 

" _If_ anything were to happen, it's going to as husband and wife." Fred turned back to the sink. "I know what you're thinking and I think you shouldn't." Fred glanced at Bill and plunged another plate into the soapy water without saying anything. "Fleur's traditional, she's been thinking about her marriage for years. She hasn't. You two are young, take it slow."

"You're right." Fred handed him the plate. "I worry sometimes."

"We all do, these are worrying times." Bill put the plate up in the cupboard and grunted. "Wish Charlie were here. He's the perfect buffer. I'm supposed to say one thing and he's supposed to be here to counter it with something reasonable."

Fred dried his hands on the towel and looked at Bill confused, "Why? What do you think Charlie would say?"

Bill chuckled, "Charlie? He'd say something like 'follow your heart, Fred. It'll guide you to your path.'"

Fred took a slow breath, "Yeah, I can hear him saying that."

Bill slapped Fred's shoulder, leading him to the living room where Remus and Sirius were whispering by the record player they'd conjured from Grimmauld Place. Remus, making eye contact with Fred as the older Weasleys entered, slid the needle onto the record that crackled before playing the song Fred remembered fondly.

Harry looked up, the first few notes of 'Lames' Song' playing. Fred stopped in front of Rebecca and held his hand out, lowering his head to hide the smirk on his face. "Oh, I guess." Rebecca laughed and took his hand. Fred put his hand on her hip and pulled her close, grinning as they began to spin about with the song.

Fleur and Bill stood to the side, dancing as they were while Molly and Arthur looked around the room lovingly.

"Careful, heard there's wizards' mistletoe in here." Fred said softly.

Rebecca looked up at him, "Did you imagine life would be like this three years ago?"

Fred thought for a moment. "Thought? No. Wished? Yes."

Rebecca shook her head, "I don't know why you'd think otherwise. You should have more faith in yourself."

Fred gave her a crooked smile, "Why? Look where I've gotten: I'm surrounded by family, shop's doing better than we ever could have hoped, the most beautiful person in the world is in my arms...I wouldn't have changed a thing." Rebecca blushed. "Don't do that." Fred brushed her hair back with his hand before cupping the side of her face, "Don't blush like it's silly."

"I'm not!" Rebecca glanced at the room out of the corner of her eyes, "I was thinking about other records I wouldn't mind listening to." Fred baulked, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. It was Rebecca's turn to offer him a grin, "Kiss me, lover boy."

Fred brought his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly, Rebecca's hand snaking behind his neck and tangling itself into his hair.

In that moment, the world was good.

*******************************************

"Are you sure you have to go?" Molly asked as Sirius and Remus made their way towards the door. "We have room, you can stay."

Tonks hoisted the bag she was holding up, "Leftovers have got to get to the refrigerator."

"Besides, it's time Molly." Sirius bent down and kissed her cheek lightly. "Happy Christmas." Remus was standing outside, holding himself up on the support post. "You know how he gets," Sirius told her softly, "He'll pep up as the night gets closer."

Molly nodded sadly, wishing she could take away Remus' pain.

"Ready to go, Remu?" Sirius asked, laying a hand on his lower back.

Back in the house, Fleur and Bill had returned to their flat hours earlier, though not before Rebecca hugged them both tightly. Fred and Rebecca hadn't found the privacy needed to listen to their own records, but they did manage to sneak a few kisses as the night carried on.

Harry sat on the stairs, staring out at the expansive winter sight outside. The bottom few inches of the tall grass that surrounded the Burrow was coated in snow, the glass of the window cold to the touch. Harry stood at approaching footsteps. Ginny stopped in front of Harry, her pajamas already donned and a pink housecoat on over them. "Has Ron gone to bed?"

"Not yet, no." Harry wasn't sure why she'd ask, it's not like she was waiting for the bathroom.

Ginny glanced down at the floor, noting how his shoe was untied. "Shoelace." Harry bent down to tie it, but Ginny did so first. She had it re-knotted in moments, standing back up closer to him than she had been before. "Happy Christmas, Harry."

Harry gulped, her closeness leaving his mouth overwhelmingly dry. "Happy Christmas."

A whoosh from outside and a blinding light startled Harry back towards the window, a line of fire being traced around the house. The snow was cleared in a wobbling, oblong shape, the areas around the flames quickly becoming bare patches as the heat melted.

Rebecca and Fred ran down the hall to the door, their wands in hand. Harry barrelled through the group ahead of them, the figure that was dancing suddenly freezing. The shape walked closer, Bellatrix's face becoming clear in the heat mirage that was sending smoke up into the night air. Harry's body tensed and it seemed to Rebecca that time had slowed down. Molly's hands were clasped to her face, George and Cedric were shoving their way out of the house, Harry stepped forward.

Remus reached out, but his reaction was delayed. His muscles hurt, his bones ached. The full moon was approaching and its effects were already upon him. Sirius caught Remus' arm and held him up, shouting, "Harry, no!" But Harry was already off the porch and flying over the snow.

Tonks raced after Harry, Rebecca right behind her. George and Cedric looked away from the flames they were trying to cast enough water on to keep away from the house as Rebecca overtook Tonks and ended up inches behind Harry, Fred only inline with Tonks as they passed through the ring of fire that shut behind them.

Fred was going to run straight through, not afraid of a little singeing to get to her, but Ginny grabbed his arm and ignored how he cursed her. "Look, wait." Ginny tightened her grip on Fred's arm, Tonks waving her wand to try and wrangle the ends of the flailing fire to the ground so that they could run after the children. "Now!"

Fred and Ginny leapt through at the exact time Ginny wanted them to, nothing but the heat rising off the flames licking at their legs as they tore after the other two.

Rebecca was shouting at Harry, "What're you thinking? This is what she wanted! You've done exactly what she wanted!"

Harry pumped his arms faster, trying to get to the woman who had threatened to take away his family. Bellatrix was singing something ahead of them. What exactly, Harry was unsure of. Rebecca's scolding lasted through it until she had to stop to breath to maintain the breakneck sprint they were holding.

The snow crunched under their feet, the frozen ends of the tall grass whipping them as they passed. Their breath puffed up around them, more evident as their breathing turned into panting. 

"You going to get me? Gonna get me Potters? Ickle, baby Potters?" Bellatrix voice echoed, always ahead of them.

Fred had Ginny's hand in his, not wanting to lose her in the grass that reached even over his head. All they had to follow was the trail Harry and Rebecca had left, the line of footprints after Harry.

Rebecca grabbed Harry's arm and stopped suddenly, turning in a slow circle. The noises around them had gone silent. Rebecca turned them to the right slightly, hearing a rustling in that direction different than the rest and continued their running.

Fred and Ginny noticed the change in the path, a divergence. "They didn't separate, did they?" Ginny whispered, looking around in a full circle for any signs of movement.

"No, they wouldn't." Fred pointed towards the left most trail. "That way." They ran a short distance before the path disappeared entirely. Ginny's head shot to the right, a wet sloshing sound catching Fred's attention too. "Rebecca?"

No response. Ginny tightened the grip on her wand. "Harry?"

A man stepped out of the shadows, a hairy, brutish man with scars across his face with a whitish, silvery tint--Werewolf scars. Fred raised his wand, pushing Ginny behind him as the man smiled perversely and licked his lips.

Rebecca and Harry barreled onto either side of him. Harry tried to steer Ginny back the other direction while Rebecca raised her wand. _"Stupefy!"_ A white pulse shot out of her wand, an attempt Fenrir Greyback blocked easily before apparating away.

Harry lunged forward one step before Ginny caught the back of his shirt. "Quiet!"

Fred and Rebecca froze, listening carefully. Beside the sound of their feet crunching in the snow, there was nothing until-"REBECCA!" Arthur's voice echoed. "GINNY!"

Rebecca saw a blur of movement in the grass a distance away. Fred saw it too, _"Stupefy!"_

"Like in the D.A!" Rebecca called, putting her back into the circle that formed as all four of them faced out and blocked the spells that were seemingly coming from nowhere. _"Protego!"_

The snow around them quickly melted into a sludge that seeped into their shoes, the heat of the spells they had to cast around them creating a puddle that was disturbed as three bodies crashed out of the grass: Sirius, Tonks, and Remus.

The kids stepped out, making their circle larger as the adults joined both their formation and their defence efforts. Arthur barreled out of the grass last, Remus shaking his head as he went to speak. There was a hissing noise from behind Ginny, followed by the sounds of the Death Eaters apparating away.

An explosion rang out back at the Burrow, a fireball climbing up into the night sky as the house was engulfed in flames. "Molly!" Arthur gasped, taking off through the grass again. George and Cedric were racing around the house, sending water up to dull the raging inferno that threatened the very structure of the home.

Ron stared up, the flames illuminating the worrying shade of white his face had taken. Fred ran forward and joined the efforts, a small dent being made in the fire. Rebecca looked down at her wand and closed her eyes, imagining trunk she needed. _"Accio Shop Store trunk!"_ Rebecca didn't flinch as the trunk barreled out of the window of her room, ignoring the look Remus gave her as she bent to the ground and threw it open.

"YOU'RE SAVING YOUR BLOODY PRA-" Remus' screamed, irrationally angry at the idea of her being so selfish with the looming full moon in the days ahead.

"Take these! Start throwing!" Rebecca commanded, handing a box to Harry. "Ginny! Get these buried as close to the house as you can!" Ginny took the bag of seeds and did as she was told. The sky thundered before Ginny had even planted every few feet on one side of the house, Cedric abandoning his spell attempts and digging through the trunk Rebecca was throwing things out of in search of anything that could help.

"These?" Cedric shouted, struggling to be heard of the crackle of the house. 

Rebecca nodded, handing a disc to Sirius. "Top of the house, now!" Sirius apparated onto the chimney before apparating back down, a fountain spouting out of it. Remus shook his head in disbelief, staring up at the water that coated the house. The orbs Harry and George were throwing exploded in bouts of water as powerful as waterfalls, quenching entire sections of the house as the individual streams of water they had been casting couldn't. The seeds Ginny finished planting were one of Rebecca's most unsure ideas: Who needed it to rain in seconds?

A house under attack would, she quickly found out. With the downpour that started over them, Harry and Cedric's throwing, the fountain Sirius placed, and the efforts of Tonks and Fred who were smothering any of the remaining flames, the house was smoldering in minutes.

"Rebecca-" Harry tried, holding his hands up.

"Don't you dare!" She shouted, bringing her hands back with her fists clenched. She whaled on his arms, Harry not trying to step away from her. "Why would you be so stupid? Why would you run after her?!" Fred snaked his arm around her and pulled her away from him.

Molly and Arthur were side by side, staring up at the remnants of their home, of the place they'd raised their children from toddlers to teens. They stared up at the sheer miracle that it stood at all. Molly wiped her face and went to the trunk Rebecca had torn apart, picking up one of the orbs that hadn't been thrown. 

Fred was speaking softly, unable to be heard by anyone but Rebecca until Molly's voice rang out over them all. "Pranks!" Molly laughed, a hint of hysteria lacing the edges. "Damned pranks!"

George looked over the house, the smell of smoke strong in the air. "What'd you think we worked on all day? Rubber chickens?"

Molly held the orb up to her eye, noting how it shimmered like the sun did on water on a bright day. Rebecca listened to Fred, leaving Harry for now and walked to the trunk. "If I had more..." She shook her head. "If there'd been more we could have gotten it out quicker."

Molly shook her head and looked up at the house, "Look at how much is there." Molly laughed again. "Repairs instead of construction, that's what you did tonight. That's what these did."

Sirius cleared his throat and addressed them all, "We will need light to get started tomorrow, let's all head back tonight and get an early start in the morn. I'll stay as we start apparating over." Tonks spoke quietly at Sirius' shoulder before Sirius shook his head and said something quickly. Tonks nodded and went to Ron, speaking slowly.

Ginny took another look up at the Burrow's burnt exterior before taking Cedric's hand and popping out, George following after making sure Molly was able to apparate herself. Rebecca shook her head, not ready to leave yet. This was different than any attack in Diagon Alley, this was her home. This was supposed to be the one place in the entire universe that nothing bad ever touched, and there is sat charred.

"Tomorrow," Fred tilted her chin up to him. "We cannot do anything until tomorrow." 

Rebecca stared at him before nodding. "You're right." Fred apparated them out. 

Arthur, Sirius, and Harry were the last to be in front of the Burrow, Harry still standing where Rebecca had been dragged away from him with his head up towards the house. "I never thought she-"

"You didn't think at all." Sirius spoke sharply, uncharacteristically. "That was possibly the dumbest thing you'll ever do."

Harry bowed his head, his shoulders starting to shake. "I wanted to get her." Arthur laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed it as the boy began to sob with abandon. "I wanted to kill her. For you. For trying to kill-for killing you!"

Sirius grabbed Harry's shoulder and stepped in front of him, forcing Harry to look into his eyes. "Then you thought even less." Sirius pointed up at the house, "This is what happens when you don't think about your actions, things don't go well!"

Arthur caught Sirius' eye and shook his head. If Harry had shouted back, Arthur might not have said anything in his defence because he was defending himself. But Harry didn't. He continued to sob. "Harry,"

"I'm so sorry." Harry couldn't bring himself to look Arthur in the eye. 

"Harry." Arthur waited for him to stop apologising. "No one got hurt. This can all be dealt with, the important thing is that no one got hurt."

Sirius' gaze stayed on the house. This would be the most personal attack of the war so far, the desecration of the safe-haven Molly and Arthur had made. 

"Let's get back, okay?" Arthur spoke softly, waiting for Harry to wipe his face. "Sleep will be needed before anything else."

"I'm so sorry."

*******************************************

Author's Note:

The movie and the book never really touched on what happened after the Burrow was burnt down, so I saw the perfect opportunity to slip in a little Rebecca importance. I never noticed how the movie doesn't touch on Harry feeling guilty, something I couldn't even imagine not happening. The Burrow ended up more of a home to him and the Dursleys, rivalling Hogwarts and because he didn't think his actions through, it got nearly destroyed. 

Hence, the guilt.

Anyway, next chapter will be rest of holiday and heading back to Hogwarts.

<3


	12. CHAPTER 7

**Number 12 Grimmauld Place was their home for the bulk of the winter holiday** , rebuilding the Burrow taking longer than projected. Harry was the first up and apparated over with Arthur every morning, staying until the last group was done for the day and only taking a break when forced to.

The work was hard and time consuming leaving only a few precious minutes Fred and Rebecca laid in bed together before falling asleep, quickly becoming their favourite parts of the days.

The adults used magic to fix the structural damage, but the sorting through the rubble was a hand-needed job. Belongings were sorted into piles of salvageable and not salvageable and walls and floors were repaired once entire rooms were cleared. The water proved both a positive and a negative, it had put the fire out, but it had frozen over in the night and left George, Cedric, and Fred on thawing duty.

Everyday went the same way, they woke up and ate a quick breakfast before going back over to sort and continue to work until dinner, a small break for lunch somewhere in the middle. It was hard work, harder still as Remus and Sirius had to excuse themselves the day before the full moon after Remus had nearly come to blows with Cedric as his tenseness increased with the approach of the lunar peak.

Two wands down, the work was slow going. 

"Fred?" Rebecca called from what was once the front room with the fireplace. 

"Yeah?" Fred shouted back, balancing precariously from above. One of the main beams of the house had been weakened and fallen down, leaving the hole that Fred peered down at her from. "Thawed or dried?"

Rebecca held the book up and turned the page, ink from the desk having leaked down the shelf over the pile of books she had spread out. "De-inked."

Fred waved his wand, the ink slipping off the pages and going back into its inkwell. "That all?" Rebecca nodded and Fred went back to sorting through his assigned area.

*******************************************

"Come eat!" Molly's voice echoed over the Burrow. There were only days left until those returning to Hogwarts would make the trip to King's Cross and, at the rate the afternoon was going, the Burrow would be habitable any night. "Now!"

Fred jumped through the hole in the ceiling, still thinking it wouldn't hurt to leave it. Rebecca paused in the doorway, shaking her head at him. "Let's go, she won't ask twice."

Molly marched past them, "No, I will not." Continuing down the hall, she paused where Harry was straining to lift the table top back onto the legs. "Harry!" Harry nearly dropped it, startled at her appearance. Molly grabbed the other side of the table and evened it out, Harry's muscles sighing in relief as the weight was shared. The table slid back on and clicked loudly as the peg in the middle slid into place.

"Thanks." Harry panted, shaking his hands out. Finishing the dining room had been his goal before lunch and now he'd met it. "Everything look the same?"

"Everything looks fine, Harry."

"I'm not doing anything." Harry defended. He didn't want to hear her tell him to stop or to say no one blamed him again. He knew it was a lie and he deserved their blame, he wished they would treat him poorly instead of the kindness they had been. "I'm working like everyone else."

Molly put her hand on Harry's shoulder and walked with him through the nearly completed downstairs. Upstairs would need all of their focus after lunch, all the way back up to the attic, but they'd managed to do so much more than could have been hoped. "Eat. Sit a moment."

Harry dropped onto the ground and ate his sandwich in a very Ron-like fashion. He was famished. Every second that they worked on the house he was pushing himself as hard as he could. The others worked in similar paces, but none of them had guilt to fuel them. Rebecca lowered herself to the ground with the grace he hadn't, nodding at him before taking a slower bite of the sandwich in her hands. "So."

Harry swallowed and wiped his mouth. "So."

"I shouldn't have hit you. I-" Rebecca looked away from him. Fred had told her that the quicker she talked to him, the quicker they could move on. Granted, it had been longer than she would have liked, but she couldn't look at him without wanting to throttle him. He'd taken the bait so easily, so willingly. Rebecca silenced her internal griping and continued. "I admit that." It was as close to an apology she was going to get. She wished for a single second that she could just grab his hand and make him see what he was thinking, but it was gone in a moment, not at the price that would come with.

"You should have." Harry ignored how she her head turned to him and continued. "You all should. I did this."

"Hitting you was a mistake." Harry met her eyes, her eyes that grew distant. "We aren't supposed to be hit for mistakes." Rebecca wiped her hands on her shirt. "I was wrong."

They sat in silence, there backs to the rest of the workers who talked amongst themselves quietly. "They okay?" Cedric asked as he slipped into his spot next to George. 

George shrugged, "Dunno."

Fred rolled his eyes, "Course they are. It's just a little tense right now."

Cedric nodded and busied himself with George's hand. "What's left upstairs, Georgie?" George appreciated the distraction. He'd been facing his own turmoil as he watched Harry run himself ragged. George saw that Harry accepted his guilt and he didn't care. Harry could have killed himself, he could have killed anyone still in the house, he could have killed Rebecca. "I don't have to read your mind, you know." Cedric laid his head on George's shoulder. "I can see everything on your face."

"Then tell me what to do."

Cedric sighed, "Forgive him." George went to say something, but Cedric interrupted him. "What's done is done, all we can do is move forward."

George brought his lips to Cedric's and Fred looked away, moving to grab another sandwich from the table Tonks was surveying. "Green bean."

"Candy floss."

Tonks snorted and turned her hair a brighter shade of pink. "Happy now?"

Fred plucked three sandwiches off the table and stacked them higher, seeing Harry and Rebecca still sitting in silence. "Very." The area they'd reserved for eating had the snow magically cleared away in a large square before they were called, though the grass still crinkled as he walked over its frozen blades. "Still hungry?"

Rebecca and Harry both took a sandwich appreciatively, thanking him quietly. Fred knew he wanted to say something, but he couldn't figure out what. Rebecca solved his problem for him as she stood up and looked at the house. "Ready to finish this?"

Harry turned his head back to her, knowing she meant more than just the work. "I don't see how we can."

Fred stood up and brushed the crumbs off his hands, pulling Harry to his feet. "We just do, mate."

*******************************************

Molly looked around her kitchen and nodded proudly. Discovering that the girls' room and the attic had been entirely caved in extended their work and their stay at Grimmauld place, but the night before they would be returning to Hogwarts they were going to sleep in their own beds again. For the most part, at least. 

Dinner was on and nearly finished, the smell of her lasagna spread through the house and added the final facet in the return of home to the house. Fred and Rebecca were going through the trunks she'd brought, sorting through what they'd need to take back to the shop with them the next day. "These are done and good to go, recipe's attached to the top." She pointed to the next stack, "Those have to be economised, ingredients cost more than we'd ever sell 'em for. George'll have an idea, he always does."

Fred listened dutifully until her trunks were empty enough to be shrunken again. Fred slipped them into his hand and tucked them into his back pocket, George and Cedric entrusting him with separating her from them long enough to fill them with the ingredients they'd been compiling to secretly replenish her stores. "Love?"

"Yes, darling?" Rebecca asked as she dug through her school trunk to make sure the mirror was safely wrapped in her jumper. Fred didn't answer and when she felt the glass where she'd left it, she turned around to find Fred sitting with his back to her bed. "Fred?" Fred opened his arms in response, Rebecca climbing into them instantly. "I know."

"Do you?" Fred asked with his face buried in the top of her head. "Just how much I love you?"

"I would think it's as much as I love you." She was happy to hear him laugh softly. 

"Yes, I would think that's correct." He bent his knees so that she was held entirely on his lap, his arms hooked around her neck as her head rest against his collarbone. "You do love me entirely, right?"

Rebecca lifted her head, "Of course!"

Fred smirked, bringing her into a tender kiss. "Good. Because that's as much as I love you." 

Rebecca smiled into their kiss, "You're too much, you do know that right?"

"You know you love it."

*******************************************

"Robes?"

"Check."

"Jumpers?"

"Check."

"Wand?"

"Well..." Rebecca whirled around and plucked it off the night table. "Check."

"That's it, I guess." Fred put his hands in his pockets and looked around the girls' room. Ginny had already tricked George and Cedric into taking her trunk downstairs by telling them the other said they couldn't. "One term till summer." 

"Yes," Rebecca put her hands behind his and locked them, looking up at him with a smile. "One term. Half a year's past. Dooming prophecy, sabotage in the castle, house reconstruction...What next?"

Fred paled, "Nothing. Don't even take the mick." 

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "A calm end to the year is always an intention of mine, it just hasn't worked out that way yet!" Fred paled further. "Don't worry. We'll chat before bed?"

Fred nodded, "I'll be waiting."

Ron tore up the stairs, "Let's go! Mum's been shouting for ages!"

Rebecca linked her arm through Fred's and took a final look at her and Ginny's room. "Forgetting something?"

She turned back towards the hall and patted Fred's arm, "No, remembering." Rebecca's eyes met Fred's, an intensity burning behind them. "It's going to take a little more than a bit of fire to knock us down."

Fred tightened his grip on her, making the two of them stop at the top of the stairs. Fred was on her before she could even recognise that he was moving to her, his hand holding her back to press her against him harder as his lips attacked hers. When he pulled back, he nodded sharply. "Nothing's going to knock us down."

Rebecca nodded slowly, his heat leaving her brain slightly fogged.

*******************************************

"You-" Hermione was pacing in front of Harry and Rebecca in the compartment they'd settled into before Ron ducked away with Lavender. She'd already tried to speak but couldn't seem to get past her first word. "You-"

Rebecca snorted, Harry failing to see the humour. "We've broken her!" Rebecca laughed.

"You were attacked and didn't think to call?" Hermione faced the window. "You didn't think to write?" She faced the door. 

"There wasn't much time, Mione." Rebecca tried to explain before Hermione had a heart attack. "The phone line was ruined and couldn't be magicked back. As for writing, we spent the days working our arses off to get things back together!"

"It's too easy for them to get to you!" Hermione shouted, sitting roughly. "You're bloody lucky no one was killed!"

Harry nodded, looking out the window. "I know."

Rebecca shook her head at Hermione before Harry looked back to them, hoping Hermione had the sense to drop it before they could talk without Harry there. Hermione scowled but sat back and crossed her arms.

The door was opened quickly and Ron stepped half through before being yanked back by something shining around his neck. "You'll wear it?" Lavender squeaked.

"Course I'll wear it, Lav." Ron's eyes bulged as she pulled it tighter. 

"That's my Won-Won." Lavender tittered before skipping away.

Rebecca grimaced and stood up, "I've got to find Nigel."

Hermione hopped to her feet quickly and followed Rebecca out before telling her in the hall, "I've got to go vomit." The girls laughed, taking a breath in one of the first moments they'd shared without the boys since December ended. "Harry's blaming himself, isn't he."

Rebecca nodded, "Exactly, that's why I asked you to wait. You can lay it all on me if you need, let it out of your system and all, but he needs a break."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to 'lay it all on you.' I just-You both need to realise who you are."

"And who are we, Hermione?" Rebecca winced, "Ex-abused orphans with overlapping prophecies and a separated love?"

Hermione gave her a sharp look, "Self-pity is out of character." Hermione nodded her head, "But that's not what I meant. You're the Chosen Ones, choosing to be so or not."

Rebecca sighed, "I know. Are you coming with me?" Rebecca craned her neck into the next cabin and saw Nigel's red hair glowing in the distance. 

"To your tutelage of terrors?" Hermione laughed, "No, I'm not. I'll put my robes on and linger about, Ginny should be here somewhere after all."

Rebecca nodded, finding Hermione's scolding almost welcome after the stress of the holiday. It was regular and routine, exactly what she wanted. "Nigel!"

"Rebecca!" He mocked her intonation and opened his arm for a brief hug. "We have to talk about the gifts."

Louis sat up from the bench he was laying across, "Yes, we bloody do! When are those hitting the shelves?"

Rebecca looked to them curiously, "Which ones?"

"All of them?" Yara asked tentatively.

Rebecca grinned, "I have good word that they'll be in the catalog before Valentine's day, but production takes a while."

"Because you're not there, you mean." Nigel shook his head, "When you were working every day, the shop hadn't had an empty shelf. Not one!"

Rebecca waved a hand at him, "Stop it!" She dug into her pockets and pulled out a single envelope. "If you're done, wwe can talk business."

"Business?" Louis yawned. "Boring."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "Louis, Louis, Louis." She opened the envelope slowly. "When have I ever been known to be boring?"

*******************************************

"I had quite a mess upon my return, Rebecca." Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Have either of you been witness to an unopened Howler?" Rebecca's jaw dropped while Harry shook his head. "Explosive consequences."

"Umm," Rebecca shook her head. "Perhaps some....unhappiness...at a lack of information passing was mentioned."

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, evidently. Molly must have forgotten I would be out of the office. Or she wanted to leave soot on my ceiling." He pushed himself to his feet and strolled over to the shelf of memories, "I'm sorry to disturb you your first evening back."

"It's not a problem, professor." Harry shuffled his feet next to Rebecca, eagerly looking down into the pensieve. "Shall we?"

Dumbledore waved his hand, "After you."

The memory opened up to reveal that they were down in Professor Slughorn's old office, a much smaller room than he was in now. Rebecca looked around and realised why he'd demanded more space, it really was little more than an extended broom closet. There was a table inside where Slughorn sat at the head and Tom seemed to be the spokesperson for the group of students behind him. "Sir, is it true Professor Merrythought is retiring?" Young Tom's eyes had hardened, he had to have been a fourth or fifth year at this point. They weren't the eyes of the hurt child in the orphanage, Rebecca knew that much. These eyes had a glint to them that, despite the years distance between this moment and Rebecca, left her uneasy.

"Tom, I couldn't tell you if I knew, could I?" The much younger looking Slughorn leaned forward, plucking a piece of candied fruit out of the bowl. "By the way, thank you for the pineapple! You're quite right, it is my favourite!" Slughorn popped the sweet into his mouth, grinning. "My wife makes such a good pineapple cake, it's divine!" Slughorn seemed to think on the statement a moment. "How did you know?"

Tom's head tilted back cockily, a knowing smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Intuition."

A clock in the background chimed. "Oh gracious! Is it that time already?" The boys around Tom started to get up slowly. "Off you go boys, or Professor Dippet will have us all in detention." Slughorn turned back to his desk, pouring himself a dark-coloured drink as the boys filed out oblivious to the fact that Tom stayed behind. Tom tapped the hourglass on the shelf, the hourglass Rebecca tapped similarly only weeks earlier. "Look sharp, Tom! You don't want to be caught out of bed after hours." Tom made no move that he would be leaving anytime soon. "Is something on your mind, Tom?"

"Yes, sir." Tom walked to the side before turning back to Slughorn, his eyes narrowing on the professor. "You see, I couldn't think of anyone else to go to." Tom looked at Slughorn sheepishly, "The other professors, they're not like you. They might misunderstand."

Slughorn raised his drink in appreciation of the flattery, his gait stumbling--he had been drinking throughout their earlier meeting. "Go on."

"I was in the library the other night in the Restricted Section and I read something rather odd about a bit of rare magic, and I thought perhaps, you could illuminate me." Tom stood closer to Slughorn now, he had steadily worked his way closer to the man as he spoke. "It's called, as I understand it-" 

Rebecca turned to Dumbledore expectantly, the memory filled with a high-pitched whirring that blocked out the words that were being spoken. Slughorn jumped, once slouching and drinking to now standing tall and straight, his cup at his side. "I beg your pardon? I don't know anything of such things, and if I did," Slughorn's voice rose into a shout. "I wouldn't tell you!" Slughorn stormed towards Tom, shooing him out. "Now get out of here at once and don't let me catch you ever mentioning it again!" 

The background of the memory washed away, the last thing Rebecca seeing was Tom standing where he was with the same cocky smile creeping across his face.

Dumbledore didn't waste any time when she and Harry were standing in his office once more. "Confused? I'd be surprised if you weren't."

"What was that at the end? When we couldn't hear anything and Slughorn jumped?" Rebecca wiped her face with her sleeves, Harry polishing the water off his glasses before holding his hand out for hers as well. 

Dumbledore walked towards them, his voice low. "This is perhaps the most important memory I've collected. It is also a lie." Rebecca, glasses back on, walked around the table as Dumbledore continued. "This memory has been tampered with by the same person whose memory it is, our friend Professor Slughorn."

"Why would he tamper with his own memory?" Harry asked.

Rebecca looked up, "To hide something?"

Dumbledore nodded, "I suspect he's ashamed of it."

Rebecca shook her head, "But why?"

"Why indeed." Dumbledore motioned for Rebecca to join him at Harry's side. "I asked you to get to know Professor Slughorn, and you have done so. Now I want you to persuade him to divulge his true memory anyway you can."

Harry glanced at the headmaster worried. "I don't know him that well, sir. Not enough for him to give me something he's hidden from you."

Dumbledore shook his head, "This memory is everything. Without it, we are blind." Dumbledore looked to Rebecca, "Work together. Without that memory, we leave the fate of our world to chance. You have no choice, you must not fail."

Rebecca nodded, taking a quick breath. "Then we won't."

*******************************************

"That's all he wanted to show you? A false memory?" Fred asked from his bed in their flat. "Seems like a waste of time if you ask me."

Rebecca had silenced the edges of her bed so she could talk freely to him as Hermione and Ginny slept. "No, it led to our next task: We have to get the true memory from Professor Slughorn."

"That won't be hard." Fred said surely.

"How isn't it?" Rebecca shook her head, "He hid it from Dumbledore, it's got to be something he really doesn't want anyone to see."

Fred answered quickly, "After how he treated you in Hogsmeade, the man clearly adores you. Put your charming-hat on and you'll get it in no time."

"You're faith in me feels unwarranted." Rebecca sighed and turned the mirror so that Fred was lying next to her. 

Fred smiled, "Oh no, it's all well deserved." Fred reached behind him and turned the lamp off, leaving only his face illuminated by the light shining in from his window. "We can leave them up, if you want."

Rebecca nodded and yawned, "That's a great idea, though we can't dilly dally in the morning. Hermione will have a flobberworm if we're late."

"Dilly dally? Have I ever been known to extend goodbyes?"

Rebecca laughed and blew him a kiss before pulling her blanket up under her chin.

*******************************************

Rebecca insisted that they swing down to the dungeons to make a move on Professor Slughorn before the sixth years had their first class the next day. "We need him to think we're friends, Harry. Best way to do that is to get him to talk about himself."

Harry rolled his eyes as they approached his door and heard voices inside. 

"I suggest you reacquaint yourself with the chapter on antidotes." Slughorn waved the first years out of the class, "Until next time, off you go!" Emmett grinned at the sight of Rebecca at the exit and held his hand out for a high five, a crowd of Gryffindors behind him. Rebecca slapped his hand before taking the first step so that Harry entered the classroom behind her.

"Ah ha!" Slughorn caught their entrance and turned back to the ingredients he was tidying. "If it isn't the princess of Potions herself." Slughorn peeked over her shoulder, "And you, Harry." Harry suppressed the sigh that threatened to escape. Harry seriously considered whether or not Rebecca had been reading out of the Half-Blood Prince's notes because he hadn't yet completed a potion that bested hers in any notable way and Professor Slughorn continued to dote on her. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Rebecca hopped up onto one of the stools at his teaching table. "Actually, sir, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away!" Slughorn turned with the same glimmer in his eye from the memory, the one that showed how excited he was to pass on knowledge. "Ask away!"

Harry stepped in, "It's my question, Professor." Harry ignored the look Rebecca was giving him. "I was in the library, in the Restricted Section, and I came across something rather odd about a very rare piece of magic."

Slughorn's vision narrowed in on Harry, not noticing how Rebecca had paled as Harry stupidly regurgitated the exact lines Tom said in the memory. "Yes, and what was this rare piece of magic?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, I-I can't remember the name exactly. But it got me wondering, are there some kinds of magic that you're not allowed to teach us?"

Rebecca silently slipped off the stool and stood back up, ready to make an exit whenever Slughorn kicked the two of them out. Her hands were clenched in fists so tight, she could feel the indentations being left by her fingernails into her palms. 

"I'm Potions Master, Harry." Slughorn shouldered his bag and walked briskly towards the door. "I think your question'd be better posed to Professor Snape." 

Rebecca lingered behind Harry as Harry spoke on. "He and I don't see eye to eye, sir. What I mean to say, well, he's not like you. He might misunderstand."

Slughorn's face was pinched as he answered. "There can be no light without the dark. And so it is with magic. Myself, I always strive to live within the light. I suggest you do the same."

Slughorn turned to leave and Harry looked at Rebecca in alarm, he'd run out of phrases from the memory and Slughorn was leaving! Rebecca steeled herself, knowing Slughorn wouldn't react well to her next question. "Is that what you told Tom Riddle, sir, when he came asking questions?"

Slughorn froze and turned back to them, Rebecca could feel how his gaze scrutinised her. "Dumbledore put you up to this, didn't he?" Rebecca didn't answer, only met his stare with a cool indifference. "Didn't he?!" Slughorn tore out of the room, not giving either twin another glance.

"I thought we were asking him about his bloody holiday!" Rebecca hissed as they walked back up to the others. "What the hell, Harry!"

"I was going to ask him directly so he shut himself off to me, leaving you to get it!" Harry softened his tone, "I panicked when I ran out of the memory, I'm sorry."

Rebecca sighed and ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head. "It's alright. We'll think of something else."

*******************************************

By the time the first week of class had passed, Harry nor Rebecca had anything to contribute to their strategy. Slughorn avoided them like the plague. Rebecca was on top of her homework, quidditch practise was going well, falling asleep with Fred each night had considerably lessened her tension...

She found herself skipping to the Room of Requirement while Hermione was in Arithmancy study hall happily. Instead of using her workspace to run away from something, she was just going up to work for the sake of work. It was a strange feeling after the strenuous start to the year.

Dumbledore had yet to call them down for another memory, the centaur's celebrations had tapered down with the new year, things seemed to be going well. Supper that night was a delicious, though there was something nagging at Rebecca's brain. When dessert appeared, Ron reached for a chocolate cake. "Don't eat that." Rebecca said, grabbing his wrist before he could get to the knife.

"Why not?" Ron took his hand back, "It's bloody chocolate cake, I love chocolate cake."

Rebecca tilted her head, trying to find out what exactly was telling her. "I don't know. Just don't eat chocolate, okay?"

Hermione watched the exchange from beside Rebecca and didn't say anything. Harry slid a piece of treacle tart onto Ron's plate and put Ron's fork in it. "You'll hardly tell the difference."

Nigel ambushed Rebecca outside the common room that evening, Louis and Yara on either side of him as they stepped out of the shadows in sync. "How many times did you guys practise that?"

Nigel smirked, "Doesn't matter, it looked bloody cool didn't it?"

Ron went up the stairs muttering darkly about chocolate while Harry lingered near the fire with Hermione. "She did that before, in Diagon Alley. She was picking up two copies of Advanced Potions in Flourish and Blott's, long before we knew Slughorn took E's."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, I know. She did it to Ginny as well, I hardly even remember what it was now." Hermione looked into the fire, "It's strange."

Harry crossed his arms and leaned against the fireplace's border. "She doesn't talk in her sleep anymore, does she?" 

Hermione smiled, "She does."

"And?"

Hermione shook her head, "It's nothing like that. Talks about a certain someone more nights than not." Harry grinned and gave Hermione a quick hug before excusing himself upstairs. 

"They said they're working on it!" Rebecca explained, her exasperation clear. "Tell you what," Rebecca pointed at Louis, Nigel, and Yara in turn. "Fred's coming to Hogsmeade on Valentine's, okay? You can bugger him all you want then."

"Won't you be doing something Valentines-y?" Louis asked cheekily. "Something children shouldn't be privy to?"

Rebecca made a show of digging around in her pockets, "I don't see children, only nosy trolls!" Louis and Yara sprinted down the hall, leaving Nigel to face whatever she was going to do to them alone. "You're lucky." Rebecca warned, "I'll wait until the three of you are together."

Nigel told the Fat Lady the password, stepping into the common room just as Rebecca's name was shouted from the boys' dormitories.

"Was that Harry?" Nigel turned to ask, but Rebecca was already half up the stairs.

*******************************************

Minutes earlier, upon entering their room, Harry found Ron sitting with his knees bent in front of the window. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon?"

Harry shrugged his jacket off. "Divine." He traced the line of wrappings behind Ron, the trail leading directly to Harry's bed. "Have ourselves a little snack, did we?" A sinking feeling entered Harry's stomach as Ron turned around with a heart shaped box that always accompanied chocolates.

"It was on your bed, the box." Ron pushed himself to his feet. "I just thought I'd try one. Or 20. I can't stop thinking about her Harry."

Harry walked to his bed and sat on the edge, putting his back to the headboard. "Honestly, I reckoned she was starting to annoy you."

Ron closed the distance between Harry and Ron in seconds, putting his face far closer to Harry's than ever before. Harry jumped back, his eyes flitting to Ron's lips a moment. "She could never annoy me!"

"Rebecca!" Harry shouted, hoping she was down in the common room.

"I think I love her." Ron nodded slowly, his eyes wider than usual.

"Well, brilliant." 

Harry eased himself off his bed and sat on the edge of Ron's. "Do you think she knows I exist?"

Harry heard the pounding of feet in the hall and sighed in relief, she'd know what to do. "I very well hope so, she's been snogging you for three months."

"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked as she slowed in the room's door way.

"Snogging? Who are you talking about?" Ron's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Who are you talking about?" Harry countered, not sure who Ron would be talking about if not Lavender.

"Who are either of you talking about?" Rebecca countered, putting her hands on her hips. "I was summoned?"

"Romilda, of course!" Ron shook his head at the two of them. "Romilda Vane!"

"Very funny." Rebecca looked at Harry who gestured back to Ron. Rebecca rolled her eyes, something Ron did not appreciate. Ron stood up and threw the box at her, whacking her in the stomach with it. "What was that for?!"

"It's no joke! I'm in love with her!" 

Rebecca and Harry understood what must have happened at the same time, Rebecca picking the box up off the floor in case they needed it as evidence. "Say Ron," Rebecca started, tucking the card on the bed back into the string around the box. "Have you ever met Romilda Vane?"

Ron whirled on her excitedly. "No, can you introduce me?"

Harry grabbed Ron's arm, "Yeah, we can. Let's go meet Romilda Vane."

Maneuvering Ron through the castle in the state he was in was fairly difficult, Rebecca finding herself more and more frustrated as Harry asked her to take Ron's other side so that he didn't wander side to side. "Don't whinge, Rebecca." Harry warned as they turned to the last stair case before the dungeons. "At least he's not doing renderings drunk."

That shut her up quickly. Stopping in front of the Potions Master's door, Rebecca told Harry to wait with Ron. She tucked her hair behind her ears and righted her glasses, raising her hand to rap on the door quickly when she wasn't mussed up. "I'm so sorry sir, I wouldn't bother you if it weren't absolutely essential."

"Where's Romilda?" Ron demanded, trying to turn back around but stopped by Harry.

"What's wrong with Weasley?" Slughorn eyed him carefully. "He's yumpier than usual."

Rebecca stepped closer and lowered her voice, "Love potion, quite powerful."

Slughorn sighed, "Very well, bring him in." Setting up his supplies Slughorn looked at Rebecca warily. "I'd have thought you could whip up a remedy for this in no time, Rebecca."

"I thought this required a more practised hand, sir." Rebecca looked back at Ron worried, "There won't be any lasting effects, will there?"

Ron stood up and wrapped his arms around Professor Slughorn, crooning all the while. "Hello, darling. Fancy a drink?"

Professor Slughorn turned his head towards her slowly. "Perhaps you're right. No, not a trace."

Harry grabbed Ron's shoulder and tried to direct him towards the couch, finding that the larger boy fought him every step of the way. Rebecca took the opportunity to try and patch things up. "I'm sorry professor, about last week--Our misunderstanding."

Slughorn continued to make the antidote, not looking up at her. "Not at all, water under the bridge. Correct?"

Rebecca nodded, "I expect you're tired of it after all these years. All the questions about Voldemort."

Slughorn looked at her sharply, "Don't use that name!" Harry had turned to listen to their conversation, not noticing that Ron had climbed up so that he balanced on the back of the couch precariously until Ron fell backwards with a thump that directed both Slughorn and Rebecca's attention back towards him. "Go keep him from breaking anything." 

Rebecca did as she was told, wondering if the option of 'everything being under the bridge' was still an open. Rebecca sat next to Ron and pulled him back to the couch every time he tried to get up, a quickly tiring job. When Slughorn finally walked over to the three of them, it was a blessing.

"Bottoms up, old boy."

"What's this?" Ron asked, looking at the bright liquid in the cup confused.

Slughorn glanced at Rebecca a moment before the perfect lie came to his mind. "It's a tonic, for the nerves."

Ron smiled at them all and took a single drink from it. Rebecca watched as the grin that had stayed on his face since she had seen him faded and his eyes seemed to clear. "What happened to me?" He asked quietly, the fog he hadn't even realised had coated his brain lifting.

"Love potion." Harry explained with a grin.

"Bloody strong one at that." Slughorn took the rest of the antidote from him as Rebecca rubbed his back.

"I told you about the chocolate, didn't I? You're as bad as Rems."

Ron looked at her sadly, "I feel really bad. Empty."

Slughorn nodded and rifled around his desk. "You need a pick-me-up, my boy." He opened a drawer and pulled out a few bottles. "Got butterbeer, wine, dazzling oak-matured mead." Slughorn lifted the mead. "I had other intentions for this, but I think given the circumstances..." Slughorn popped the cork and poured four glasses.

Rebecca stood up next to Ron and patted his back before letting him stand on his own. "I'm sorry, Ron."

Ron shook his head and one of the glasses Slughorn offered them. Rebecca took it and ignored the look Harry gave her. Ron was already lifting his to his lips, but Rebecca waited for Slughorn to finish his little toast. "To life!"

Rebecca raised her glass, "To life." 

Ron was on the ground before the words had entirely left out of her mouth. Rebecca dropped to her knees, righting his neck. "Ron?" Foam crawled out of his mouth as he began to seize, his limbs trembling madly. "Ron!"

Harry crouched next to her and looked to Slughorn, "Professor, do something!"

"I-I don't understand."

Rebecca shook her head and jumped to her feet, running to his Potions set up. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." She muttered, tearing through drawers and ignoring the mess she was leaving. "Bloody Potions professor doesn't have a fu-" There, the bottom drawer in a labelled box. She ran back across the room, Harry having lifted Ron's head up to help him breathe to no avail.

Rebecca jammed it into his mouth, Harry realising what it was. "The bee's whore."

"Bezoar." Rebecca would fail to see the humour in this for a long time, the fear for Ron to prominent. "Breathe, Ronald. Breathe." Ron didn't move, didn't make any sign of the antidote working. Rebecca moved her hands to the sides of his shirt, ready to grab his skin the second his soul began to leave.

Slughorn stared at the students in shock.

At once, Ron coughed a body-shaking cough and sat up, breathing loudly. Rebecca pulled him into her chest, holding his head tightly as Harry sat back against the couch behind them.

Ron shook his head against her, clearing his throat before sitting up on his own. "These girls, they're gonna kill me." Ron lowered his head back to the ground.

*******************************************

<3


	13. CHAPTER 8

**The hospital wing was a welcome sight** , Rebecca thought as she opened her eyes in the chair beside Ron's bed. Madam Pomfrey had not. She had been furious as to the fact that they had been drinking at all.

"You drink at a pub, not in a school!" She had scolded Rebecca and Harry as she fawned over Ron, finally telling them that he would sleep deeply until morning. 

"And quidditch, will he be able to play?" Rebecca asked before wincing at the look Madam Pomfrey gave her.

"I'll pretend you didn't ask that." She warned before walking back to her desk. Harry pulled the sheets down of the bed next to Ron and laid on it, expecting that Rebecca would climb into the other one when she was tired. Hermione had told Fred through the mirror that she was probably spending a late night in the Room of Requirement and would be there in the morning, wondering herself what was taking Rebecca quite so long. 

Rebecca righted her glasses as she sat up, her back sore from the strange position she had spent the night in. "Good morning." Rebecca rubbed her eyes as Ginny and Hermione ran in calling her name. "I tried to get you, Madam Pomfrey-"

Ginny pulled her into a tight hug before looking over Ron. "What happened to him?"

Harry sat up and patted the top of his head, hoping it was enough to flatten the bed head he could feel sticking straight up. "Love potion. First, at least. Then it was poison."

Hermione looked up nervously from the seat she had taken on the other side of Ron's bed, "Poison?" She couldn't help but look at Rebecca who was now standing behind the seated Ginny.

"I didn't bloody drink any." Rebecca turned her head to the door as it was thrown open and a line of professors entered, Dumbledore at the head of them.

"Quick thinking on your part, Rebecca, for using the bezoar." Rebecca thanked Dumbledore. "You must be very proud of your student, Horace." Snape glowered darkly.

Slughorn looked up from his thoughts absent-mindedly. "Oh yes, very proud."

"I think we can all agree upon the heroic qualities of her actions," Professor McGonagall didn't take her eyes off Ron's pale frame. "The question is why were they necessary?"

Dumbledore turned to Horace. "Why, indeed?" Slughorn handed him the bottle of mead he brought along. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't remember who gave you this bottle?"

Slughorn shook his head. "Which, by the way," Dumbledore lifted the spout to his nose and smelled deeply. "Contains hints of licorice and cherry when not polluted with poison." Snape raised a hand and was offered the bottle by Dumbledore.

"Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift myself." Slughorn explained.

"To whom?" Dumbledore asked. Rebecca walked around the bed and stood next to Hermione, putting her arm around her as she had just finished doing with Ginny.

"To you, headmaster." McGonagall looked up in alarm, first at Slughorn's statement and then because of the screeching coming from the hall. Harry followed her suit, staring at the doorway concerned.

"Where is he? Where's my Won-Won? Has he been asking for me?" Lavender barreled past Snape and Dumbledore, holding a hand to her mouth as she saw Ron in the bed. Lavender's eyes narrowed at the sight of Hermione. "What's she doing here?" Her eyes passed to Rebecca and rolled, "Should have known."

Hermione stood up and grabbed Rebecca's wrist tightly, "I ought to ask you the same!"

"I happen to be his girlfriend." Lavender stepped forward.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I happen to be his...friend."

Rebecca scoffed, "Well I happen to live with him so piss off, Brown."

Lavender didn't find any help from McGonagall and stared at Hermione. "Don't make me laugh, Granger! You haven't spoken in weeks! I suppose you want to make up with him now that he's suddenly all interesting."

"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo!" Hermione raised her voice, "And, for the record, I've always found him interesting!"

Rebecca and Ginny made eye contact, both looking to Ron as he stirred. "See!" Lavender crowed, "He senses my presence."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "So says a priest in a damn exorcism, means nothing you nutter."

Lavender pretended she didn't hear her, though Harry covered his mouth to hide the grin he couldn't rid himself of. "I'm here, Won-Won. I'm here."

Ron turned his head to the side, his lips moving. When he was finally loud enough to be heard clearly, he was calling for Hermione. Hermione sat on the edge of his bed and hooked her hand through his, Lavender running from the room in tears.

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "Oh, to be young and to feel love's keen sting." Dumbledore offered Rebecca a slight bowing of his head, a final recognition for her thinking. "Away, everybody. Mr Weasley is well tended."

Rebecca moved ahead of Ginny who was lingering behind and watching Hermione scoot closer to Ron. When the professors had stepped a ways off, Ginny glanced up at Harry boldly. "It's about time, don't you think?"

Harry forgot how to breathe a moment. "Yeah."

Rebecca, now walking beside Ginny, spoke loudly. "So you and Anthony are through?" Ginny punched her in the arm and walked faster, answering more than words could have. 

Harry smiled at the news, staring at Hermione who was still holding Ron's hand. Hermione felt his gaze and looked to him. "Shut up."

*******************************************

"Potter!" Shouts follow Harry down the hall. "Potter!"

Harry turned back with an air of disgruntled about him, if he left Charms and made it to the Transfiguration corridor before Ginny left her class, they had to pass each other and she would give him the same smile she had every time he had done so. He sighed, turning back to who ever was calling him and stifled a groan, "McLaggen."

"Weasley's out, words going round now. He can't play in the match." Cormac smirked, "I'm in then, right?"

Rebecca appeared at the end of the hall between Neville and Luna, on their way to Magical Creatures. "I've got to double-check, co-captain rule." 

Cormac nodded, "Okay." He took a breath and shouted over the din of the conversing students. "POTTER!" Rebecca caught Harry's eyes and continued to walk with her friends. Cormac took a breath to shout again, but found that he couldn't make a sound.

"Potter Weasley, McLag." Rebecca tilted her head, "If we're going with half names, that's you, isn't it?" Neville sniggered into his elbow, miming a cough as Cormac mouthed words silently. A squeak left Rebecca' robe pocket and Cormac's voice returned.

"-I'm the back up, so I'm playing aren't I because I really thought I was and I really think-"

"No one's going to be playing if we're in detention for being late." Rebecca intoned boredly. "But, yes. We don't have a choice, we put you on the sheet as Keeper back up."

Harry kept looking over her shoulder and Rebecca pulled him forward and pushed him on, "I'll tell him the schedule, you go on." Harry ignored the knowing look she was giving him and hurried down the hall. "Six to eight, McLaggen. Get there late and you field quaffles. "

McLaggen nodded, "I'll be there, you won't regret it." He looked her over head to toe before continuing on to his next class.

Rebecca looked to Luna cheekily. "I already do." Neville motioned for her to take out whatever was in her pocket that silenced him. "You'd like these Neville, I thought of you. Silence-Squeakers. You can use it on whoever tries to talk over you again."

Neville blushed, "Thank you."

*******************************************

"Here we are." Luna's voice was softly magnified over the quidditch pitch. "Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff." Nigel had been permanently removed from his position after he'd run with the megaphone when Professor McGonagall went to take it as he cursed the entirety of the Slytherin team, their families, and their children for their foul-worthy blatant cheating last time they went against Gryffindor. 

Neville and Hermione were standing in the crowd with Ron, all three of them pretending they didn't notice the daggers Lavender was sending at them with her eyes. 

"An interesting match today, I'm sure of it." Luna reassured the crowd.

Rebecca looked to Ginny and Ryan, their third chaser. Hufflepuff was lined up in a circle on the other side of them, glaring at the entirety of the Gryffindor team. "They've been doing this all week." Ginny spoke so that only the chasers could hear her. "Zacharias Smith thinks he's got the cup already, it's his seventh year."

Ryan nodded their head, "Not a chance."

Rebecca grinned, "Then let's get this match going."

Luna's voice spoke happily, "That cloud looks just like a hippogriff!" Professor McGonagall's scolding could faintly be heard by the spectators, "Miss Lovegood, the match please."

"Yes, the match. That's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle." Her dreamy voice narrated, Smith having the quaffle from the get go. "He commentated last time, quite rude about Gryffindor." Ginny slammed into him, the quaffle dropping into Ryan's outstretched hands below her as they'd practised. "Ginny Weasley flies into Smith, I think on purpose. I expect he regrets last match now he's against them-Oh look, he's lost it. Ryan climbs. I do like Ryan. They're very nice..."

Harry circled the top of the pitch, Rebecca zipping around the Hufflepuff chasers with the quaffle passing between her, Ginny, and Ryan in synchronised perfection. Ginny sank the first score of the match, Hermione and Ron cheering loudly. Putting their hands back down, his hand brushed against hers, leaving them both blushing. With the clear ending of Lavender and Ron, they continued to tiptoe around each other, Ron not having insulted her since he was let out of the Hospital Wing.

"Now Hufflepuff's got the quaffle again. I can't remember who that is, Bibble? Maybe it's Buggins-"

"It's Cadwallader!" McGonagall shouted. The crowd laughed, though they were quickly silenced as Cadwallader scored. Harry tore down the pitch to above McLaggen. The keeper had been so busy shouting orders at Ryan he let the quaffle directly in.

"McLaggen!" Harry bellowed angrily. "Pay attention to what you're supposed to be doing and leave everyone else alone!"

"You're setting such a great example!" Corman shouted back.

Rebecca called for a time out, waving for the beaters to make their way to Harry and Cormac. "McLaggen, you direct my chasers again I'll have your arse on the bench and keep myself!" Rebecca pushed her broom closer, "I swear, you're not going to throw this match!" Cormac fumed silently, jerking his head once to acknowledge that he'd heard her. "Harry, stay on the snitch."

"Now the captains are arguing with their team." Luna explained to the crowd unnecessarily. "I don't think that'll help them find the snitch, but maybe it's a ruse."

Rebecca took a slow breath, "She's right. We're a team, let's act like one." She put her hand in, "Gryffindor!"

Harry shoved his hand into the circle, shouting with the others, "Gryffindor!"

"The teams are heading back into the center of the pitch, I'm not quite sure what the sco-"

"Seventy-Forty, Hufflepuff ahead!" Professor McGonagall barked into Luna's megaphone. 

"Ah yes, that's a shame." Luna sighed. "Zacharias loses the quaffle again, I wonder if he's suffering from Loser's Lurgy. Hasn't held onto it any longer than a few seconds today."

Neville paled next to Hermione as the Hufflepuffs looked over at the Gryffindors menacingly. Zacharias didn't take the public mentioning of his failure well, dropping onto Rebecca in an attempt to dislodge the quaffle. Rebecca held onto it the best she could, Zacharias trying to wrestle it from her. Bringing his elbow back, he wedged it into the crook of her arm until she was forced to let go of it. 

Zacharias flew off, heading towards the Gryffindor posts. Rebecca waved Ginny off, sending her down towards the mess of a game. Harry dropped to her level, watching concerned as she pulled her sleeve up to look at her arm. "Y'alright?"

Rebecca looked up quickly, shoving her sleeve back down to her sleeve. "Fine. The snitch, Harry! Stop wandering!"

Harry chuckled sending his head to the side to survey the sky. "You sound just like Oliver."

"Look! The Gryffindor keeper has one of the beater's bats!" Luna remarked, the most aware she'd sounded all match. 

Rebecca turned her broom towards the other end of the pitch and lowered herself to the handle aimed towards Cormac, trying to get to the quaffle as she shouted, "Would you give her back her bat and get your arse back to the goal posts!"

McLaggen flinched at her scolding and mishit the bludger just as Harry turned back to see what was happening. Hermione's hand found its way to Ron's arm and had a grip on it that left fingerprints. "Rebecca?" Luna asked over the megaphone as the bludger made its mark.

Its mark being that it slammed against the side of Rebecca's head. A blinding, sickening pain accompanied the crack that reverberated between her ears before she felt wind brushing past her--The last thing she would remember.

*******************************************

The match ended after that, Zacharias knowing Cedric would have his arse if Hufflepuff took the win after a Potter injury. It didn't matter that Cedric had graduated, the fear of his fury was enough for Zacharias to remain adamant it wasn't a win, only a draw. Madam Pomfrey was on call and found that the look on Harry's face was good a crowd-separator as anything she'd found. Cormac had stayed at the back of the Gryffindor team procession, wisely. Harry hadn't ever understood the phrase 'seeing red' until that afternoon, but seeing red he was.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, her tone stony. Harry stopped as she did, waiting until McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned the corner with Ron and Hermione. Ryan, the small third year who had proved a knack for disappearing on the pitch and reappearing in the most advantageous of spots both on and off the pitch, was behind Cormac who froze at the look on their faces.

Harry had Cormac by the collar before Cormac could even try to run away, the difference in their sizes ignored completely. "You're done. Give McGonagall your kit, you won't play again." Harry growled.

Cormac's eyes widened, "It was a mistake!"

Ginny pushed Harry out of the way and landed a punch on his eye, one that would leave a remarkable shiner. "No, it was you being a twat!" Ginny punched him again before Harry pulled her off him. 

Cormac spat a wad of blood and spit onto the floor shaking his head. "You're a nutter, the whole lot of you."

Harry's fist swung with a power that surprised even him, landing on Cormac's jaw and sending the bigger boy into a half-spin before he slumped to the ground. Ryan stepped over him boredly, shooing Harry and Ginny back towards their fallen teammate. "That's that, anything more is overkill." Harry eyed the child warily. He'd had reservations about letting them play, they were small and had stayed under the radar so far, but they spoke sensically.

Harry wiped his knuckles down the front of him and followed Ginny down the hall where the beaters lingered in the doorway. "That will be all today," Harry dismissed them as they were clearly wanting. "Go on and change out."

They whispered to each other quietly, speaking only one thing before leaving. "He took it. She didn't give him the bat. Just so you know."

Harry nodded and entered the Hospital Wing, finding Hermione and Ron speaking to McGonagall at the foot of her bed as Madam Pomfrey felt around Rebecca's head carefully. McGonagall glanced at the bloodied hands of Harry and Ginny, but didn't say anything on the matter. "Cracked skull, Poppy's remedying the best she can."

"But?" Ginny demanded, noting the professor's hesitation.

"It was a hard strike, Ginny." McGonagall glanced at the noise taking place behind the doors. "The kind that requires contacting-"

"Somebody had better tell me what is going on." Fred demanded as he stormed into the room in front of Molly, his work uniform crisp despite his mussed hair and loosened tie. 

"It was a bludger." Harry offered with a scowl, "The problem's taken care of."

Madam Pomfrey tutted and wagged a finger at Fred warningly, "One thing thrown and you're out of here." Molly stepped to the side with Madam Pomfrey and listened as she explained what she'd done so far. "Cracked skulls are difficult, but not impossible."

Ron moved out of Fred's way at the head of her bed, Fred pulling the chair closer and taking her hand in his. It was cold and limp, frighteningly so. "What have they said so far?"

Hermione laid her hand on Fred's shoulder, squeezing it. "She'll be fine. Few days in here and then back on feet like always."

"And?" Fred turned to her and gave her a look. "I can tell, there's something more."

Hermione pursed her lips, "Madam Pomfrey is concerned...About afterwards."

Fred turned back to her and brushed the hair away from Rebecca's mouth, not saying anything else on the subject. He held his hand out for one of the rags at the end of the bed, the rags piled next to the bowl of water. Harry handed it to him and Fred noted the split on Harry's knuckles and nodded. "Madam Pomfrey can fix that, she's done mine and George's enough times." Harry waited a moment, considering leaving it as a reminder. 

Fred brought the rag to her face and wiped gently, finding that the grime of the game came off easily and only heightened how pale she looked. Harry turned and walked to Madam Pomfrey and Molly, unable to look at her. "Madam Pomfrey?"

Both women whirled at the voice, Molly hugging Harry quickly and leaving a kiss on his forehead before stepping back enough so that they could see what brought him away from the bedside the others were around. "It's nothing major, Fred said you had could help." Harry held out his hand, finding that it smarted an awful lot more when he looked at it.

"Of course I can." Madam Pomfrey shook her head and lowered her voice, "I hope you walloped that boy well, a keeper taking a beater's bat. Why...I've never seen such a disgrace!"

Molly shook her head and snapped her fingers, pointing at Ginny. "You too, the last time you entered a room with your hands behind your back you were four and Ron was bloodied up!"

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over their hands, their skin stitching itself and smoothing out as if nothing had happened. "Better?"

"Much." Harry clenched and unclenched his fist. "She'll be alright, right?"

Madam Pomfrey looked across the room as Fred stood and replaced the bowl on the table before tucking the blankets around her gently. "She has a lot of people who will make sure she will be. That's all I can say for now."

*******************************************

"McLaggen's fault, you saw him!" One student whispered in the corridor as classes began the next day.

"I did, did you see his-" The young students were forced apart as Cormac stormed through them. Professor McGonagall had forbidden the healing of his eye or jaw, telling him that they were to serve as a reminder for him to mind himself in the future.

The swelling in his eye had gone down tremendously, though it still was ringed with a dark purple that would last days longer. The point on his jaw where Harry had made contact was a similar purple that spread out into shades of green.

The school and its inhabitants only spoke of two things so far: The fact that Rebecca was still in the locked-down Hospital Wing and that Cormac was entirely to blame. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had been forced to attend their classes, though their teachers excused their absent-minds, all except for one.

"Mr Potter!" Snape shouted, pointing up at the board. "What are the ten points of weakness on a Grindylow?"

Harry looked at the illustration and sighed, "It's ten toe nails?"

"No." Snape sneered. "Does your mirror image do all the thinking? Is that what's supposed to explain this dimwittedness?"

Harry blinked slowly, "The what?"

Snape's cheeks reddened, knowing full-well that Harry was playing daft to push him. "Miss Granger? Ten points of weakness are?"

Hermione sat up straighter, "Nose, left ear, mid-spine..."

Snape nodded sharply as she finished her answer, "It's good to see that Gryffindor has at least one brain." Hermione was shocked that he would stoop so low as to compliment her to insult Harry. The rest of class passed in a similar pattern, Harry being picked on and another student ending up with the question. Harry wanted to be angry, he would have loved a blip of difference in the constant state of concern he was in. Defence Against the Dark Arts was the last class of the day and he hadn't been able to go to the Hospital Wing during lunch.

"Twelve inch parchments on the importance of Red-toed Sling-gnawers by Friday." Snape intoned as the clock chimed.

Harry waited impatiently for Hermione to put away her supplies, finding himself tapping on the table before pulling his hands to himself. _"That's what Rebecca does."_ Harry thought worriedly. _"What she will do."_ He corrected.

The three tore out of the classroom, a path made for them in the masses of students in the halls as Ginny joined them closer to the Hospital Wing. The bedroom had been far too empty two nights in a row and Ginny had crawled into Hermione's bed before the lamp had gone off for the night, the girls not needing to say anything as to why.

Rebecca had woken up in the late morning, only Fred with her. Molly and Professor McGonagall had gone off before the professor's classes had started to talk and Molly hadn't returned as of yet. Fred found the waiting to be a torture in itself. He had yet to let go of her hand, instead, he observed them as her slow breathing formed a sadistic metronome. Fred had never taken the time to note just how perfect her hands were: The way they fit exactly into his, the small divot on her left hand that Fred remembered fondly from the time they'd experimented with a product deemed Chomping Chimps, the smoothness of them.

Fred had dozed intermittently in the night, especially after George and Cedric had arrived. Fred made them stay and keep the shop open the rest of the day, knowing the Hospital Wing didn't need more people to distract Madam Pomfrey from fixing her. When they'd arrived that evening, Cedric pulled Fred into a hug that seemed to calm his worst fears, something Fred deeply appreciated. Cedric had a way of doing that.

Fred looked away from her hands and saw that the sun was now well past it's mid-day mark. He sighed and scanned her sleeping face. Fred pushed himself to his feet and pressed his lips to her forehead, pityingly thinking about the fairytale with the princess who would sleep for an eternity until true love's kiss came along. Fred's jaw dropped as her eyelids fluttered, her mouth opening and closing as she began to move.

"Rebecca?" Fred leaned closer, startling her.

"The hell happened?" She whispered, "How did I see anything? I'm too old." Rebecca held a hand to the side of her head and winced. The pain echoing in her skull rivaled the headaches that accompanied her old visions, the visions she was supposed to be free from.

"I don't understand." Fred said softly, turning back to the desk in the back. "Madam Pomfrey?"

There was a clicking sound of the healer's heels, hurrying as she saw movement. "Rebecca?" Madam Pomfrey bent down and looked into her eyes, "Do you know what the day is today?"

Rebecca thought a moment, "Today?"

Madam Pomfrey looked at her warily, "Does your head hurt, sweets? I can get you something for that."

Rebecca nodded once before the movement was too painful, "What did I say?"

Madam Pomfrey pulled the drawer open next to the bed and rummaged through the glass bottles. "Say? What do you mean?"

Rebecca looked at Fred loonily, still not understanding. "It was a vision, wasn't it? I must not have out grown them as much as we thought. I had to have said something."

Madam Pomfrey tutted, "No, dear. There was an accident on the quidditch pitch." It was like Madam Pomfrey had unlocked a gate and the memory came pouring out. 

"McLaggen?" Rebecca closed her eyes, "Yeah, McLaggen. Bloody bastard."

Madam pomfrey didn't say anything, only put the bottle into her hand and closed Rebecca's fingers around it, "Drink, Rebecca. All can be dealt with later."

Fred watched her bring the purple liquid to her mouth, the vial empty in three short drinks. It was instantaneous, the relief. Rebecca's hand left her head and a glaze crossed over heavily-lidded eyes. "Freddie-boo?"

Fred looked to Madam Pomfrey concerned, "Common side effect, that is a very strong pain draught." Madam Pomfrey went to the door to go find Molly, "She'll tire herself out eventually."

Fred felt a hand pat the top of his head, a hand that he had spent over an hour admiring. "Yes, love? Can I get you anything?"

Rebecca's head fell back on her pillow, the room spinning as the draught's effects reached their fullest point. "Come up in the bed? Plenty of room for a string bean." Fred kicked his shoes off and left as much space as he could between them. "What is that?"

Fred sighed, "I don't want to smother you, you've-"

Rebecca held a hand over his mouth, shaking her head seriously, "Oh no, mister. If you-If you don't lub wif-" Her space started to slur, though she thought she was perfectly understandable.

"Okay, okay." Fred scooted closer so that he was against her. "Better?" Rebecca's eyes were heavy, heavy to the point where she could hardly keep them up. "Close your eyes if you need, I'll be right here."

Rebecca nodded, her brain already pulling her back into the darkness.

*******************************************

"What do you mean she already woke up?" Harry demanded. "Why didn't anyone come get us?"

Fred's eyes shot open at the sound of Harry arguing, he hadn't meant to fall asleep. Fred wanted to wait until Madam Pomfrey returned with his mum to talk with them. "She said it felt like after one of her visions, Harry." Fred eased his arm out from under her and swung his legs off the bed. "That's how badly she was hurting. She needs time."

"The vision pains?" Hermione asked. 

Fred nodded, "That bad."

Harry looked to Madam Pomfrey, "Is that all that we can do? Wait?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, "The draught she had earlier should wear off soon, there was a derivative of Skele-Grow in there, that should speed up the healing."

Harry looked to her, finding himself quite distressed at the fact that he hadn't heard her crack a horrible joke in over a day. "How long?"

"Soon," Molly led Harry to a chair next to her bed. "Soon will be soon."

Soon was soon, as Molly predicted. Rebecca was stirring within the half-hour. When she opened her eyes once more, the pain was a fraction of what it had been before. Certainly, Rebecca had to reassure them all, nothing like after a vision. "Did we win?" Rebecca asked first, ignoring Hermione's eye roll.

"Draw." Harry shook his head, "It's not important. How do you feel?"

"I told you, I feel fine." Fred brought his hand up to her head and brushed against the back of it. She hissed and jumped back at the sharp pain, "I'm not going to bloody touch it!"

Fred frowned, wishing there was a way he could just take all the pain from her. "You heard Madam Pomfrey, one more day here and then rest."

Rebecca nodded, "Yes, I did. I will sit here and do nothing but recuperate like a good girl is apt to do."

Fred sighed, "You will, especially considering that the only way you'll play in the next match is if you do everything she says." Rebecca looked up in disbelief. "I asked, knew it would be something you needed to know. If you do what she says now, you'll be clear for the final."

"That's bullsh-" Rebecca froze as Molly's glare settled on her.

"That's health, young lady." Molly had refused to tell Fred what she had talked about in the hours that she'd been gone. In all honesty, he would have found it boring. McGonagall had taken the opportunity to fill Molly in on Rebecca, Ron, and Ginny's standings academically and socially.

"Yes, I understand." Rebecca sat back in her bed and looked to Fred, just then realising that he was there-there. "What about the shop?"

Fred chuckled and caught her hand, holding it to his forehead as he stared down at the sheets. "It's fine. Ced and George are manning the castle." Rebecca nodded, finding relief in the words. "But..."

"But now you've got to go?" She guessed. Harry and Ron had stepped away, joining Ginny and Hermione a ways away. The only reason they would give she and Fred privacy was for a parting.

"Yes, love." Fred sighed, "Mum too, Madam Pomfrey made it very clear we could stay until you woke up."

"I understand." Rebecca looked at him. "She probably doesn't want the beds thrown."

"I think the bludger must had knocked out your sense of humour!" Fred leaned forward and kissed her deeply. "Because that wasn't funny."

Rebecca smiled and held her hand up, a small distance between her thumb and index finger. "A little funny."

Fred reached forward and pinched her fingers together. "Not at all."

*******************************************

"I see you finished your book," Hermione gestured to the novel on the bedside table that Hermione had brought for Rebecca early that morning. Madam Pomfrey had eaten with Rebecca, the two chatting quietly before returning to her paperwork and leaving Rebecca to rest. 

It had been a long day. She wasn't tired enough to sleep and yet she didn't feel well enough to push for early release. Granted, everything was compounded because Rebecca missed Fred terribly. The fact that the Hospital Wing was boring her to immenint-madness only exacerbated this.

"Thank Merlin." Rebecca gestured to the pile of sweets on the table next to her, they'd been pouring in steadily over the course of the day. "Take some, please."

"You going to be okay?" Ginny asked from her side. Rebecca sat up and crossed her legs so that they could all sit up on her bed with her. "You're ready to leave?"

"I'll be perfectly fine, particularly since it'll be that much less time in this pristine prison."

Madam Pomfrey's voice called out to them, "I heard that!" 

"That I complimented the cleanliness of your domain?" Rebecca called back. She and Madam Pomfrey had quickly learnt that they had similar senses of humour, especially when it came to banter. 

Madam Pomfrey smiled at Ginny and nodded, "She's mended well, Miss Weasley." 

Ginny looked at Rebecca carefully, "And there shouldn't be any-"

"No, and if there was, I'd tell you." Rebecca sat up. "There, I am slightly dizzy. I told everyone."

Harry rolled his eyes and kicked her shoes closer to her. "Don't be a git."

Rebecca stuck her tongue out and went to retort back something rude. "I expect no ill consequence, dizziness makes sense after so long in bed. A residual ache is to be expected, if it gets worse, come back."

Rebecca wobbled on her feet and nodded, "Yes, Madam."

Madam Pomfrey walked the group of them to the door, sighing. "I would be fine if the final went on without such play, if you please."

Rebecca shook her head, "Our keeper's cleared, right?" Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Then there's nothing to worry about." Ron blushed at the compliment, Ginny punching his arm with a roll of her eyes.

Ron and Ginny quickly fell into step behind Hermione and Harry, the corridors filled only with the evening rush as students made their way back to their common rooms after studying about the castle. Draco passed them, eyeing Rebecca until she caught his eyes. Rebecca was shocked, his skin was noticeably lighter than anytime before, his face gaunt. The rings around his eyes betrayed sleepless nights.

"I still don't know what he'd want with a vanishing cabinet." Harry muttered.

"He looks like he's been ill, doesn't he?" Hermione asked. Rebecca turned her head to watch him pass, concerned.

"Ye-"

"Not like you could tell." Harry interrupted, not noticing the looks the girls shared. "He's always been a slimy prat."

Rebecca saw him turn at the end of the corridor, towards the Room of Requirement. _"I didn't know he was still using it."_ Rebecca thought. _"What could he be doing in there?"_

*******************************************

<3


	14. CHAPTER 9

**"You still haven't heard from the tree?"** Fred whispered, his lips brushing against her neck on Valentine's Day. "That's strange, isn't it? If you had until the end of Spring, that's getting closer." Rebecca nodded, craning her head so that he could take the line he was tracing farther up her jaw. In their private booth at the Hog's Head, Fred was increasingly hands-on. "Is it something you can reach out for or is that-"

"Fred, please. Chat or snog, I don't, I can't follow-You're distracting." Her cheeks were red as he sat back in his seat smirking. "You picked talk?" Rebecca was appalled.

"What can I say? I like to keep you on your toes." 

Rebecca rolled her eyes and tried to collect a coherent thought from the haze that he'd laid over her mind that clung to her like fog clings to the earth. "Yes, I'd imagine it's strange. I've sort of put it out of mind. Apparation's been a bit of work lately, we've got another bloody Dumbledore lesson tonight, essays in every class, my marks are lower than I-" Fred laid his hand on hers on the table, offering her a small smile.

"It's alright, love." Fred cupped his fingers under hers and grazed his thumb against her knuckles. "But I am required to tell you that your marks are the least of your worries. Hermione sets an unreasonable standard, I hope you're not holding yourself to them." Her face told him all he needed to know. "Rebecca, we all have our strengths. I bet you're higher in Potions." 

"Yes, but-"

"And you're probably tied in Charms."

"Well, I guess-"

"And Transfiguration has always been a touch harder for you."

"I see your-"

"And I know you're higher in Magical Creatures."

"Fred!" Rebecca laughed, throwing herself into his side. "She's not even taking that and it's not that I hold myself to her." Rebecca paused, "I just want my best to be as good as her best."

Fred raised an eyebrow, "That's holding yourself to her."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "I'll have you know that your guesses were all correct, though I do happen to have a knack for something new this year." Fred nodded for her to go on. "Wilkie Twycross has said I'm one of the fastest apparation learners he's ever had!"

Fred grinned and kissed the end of her nose, sliding her drink in front of her and grabbing her coat off the bench. "I don't doubt it for a second." Fred watched a slight motion at the end of the street and sighed. "We should go face the terrors now, I see them staking out the corner."

Rebecca turned out the window quickly, hoping Nigel, Louis, and Yara hadn't seen how unrestrained Fred and her had been. "Those dirty sneaks!" Fred chuckled and followed her out the door, Rebecca not forgetting to thank Aberforth and wish him a good day until next time. "NIGEL!"

There was a gasp from behind the bushes at the end of the sidewalk, a gasp followed by shoving that rattled the leaves. "You've done it now, Nige." Louis' voice carried to Fred and Rebecca.

"Me?" Nigel pointed to himself and looked over his shoulder before asking again. "Are you talking to me?" Rebecca crossed her arms and stared at him. "Me?" 

Fred watched them amused and tried to sound as intimidating as he could. "I heard the three of you have some insight as to how we conduct our business!" Rebecca turned and looked at Fred, his booming voice and commanding stance distractingly attractive. "Is that all?" Fred whispered. He'd thought Rebecca would say something else, not watch him with a look on her face he couldn't quite read.

"Oh, uh...Privacy. Don't snoop or spy, you gits." Rebecca was clearly still thinking about something else. "They wanted to know when the catalog would be updated, that was their suggestion. Demand, more like..."

Nigel nodded, "We want more of the One Bird-Two Stones!" Yara nodded in agreement.

"Not me, I just want to get more French Fancies." Louis smirked, "The ladies find it exotic."

Fred grinned, "Comments received." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the newest order sheets George had finished that morning. "Look at that! Such speedy turnaround! It really is a wonder." Rebecca had warned him to expect grief if they didn't get a move on with the new catalog, but with how busy they were keeping the shelves stocked, adding new orders had taken the back burner. The three fourth years took the catalog with rushed thank you's before running back off wherever they spent their time, most likely to walk through Zonko's again before the carriages go back. Rebecca found her eyes constantly drawn to Fred, something he noticed and found curiously alluring--Like there was something new to him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked after the third time.

"No!" Rebecca nearly shouted the answer before answering again in a more conversational tone. "No, I mean. Not at all."

Fred waved his wand at the bench, the last remnants of snow brushing off the seat. "I know I'm dashing, but you seem to be entranced by me to a new extent. Why would that be?" Fred turned his head to her and gave her an impish grin before running his hand through his hair unknowing of how it made her breath catch in her throat. It was at the length she liked it best, separated in the middle and long enough to just barely graze the top of his ears after he combed it with his fingers back from his face.

"I think I want to have sex." Rebecca said all at once, looking out over the empty courtyard they'd found themselves in with her cheeks positively aflame. "With you." She wasn't sure why she clarified with whom she was referring to. Obviously she was talking about Fred.

Fred choked, she could have said she had tea with the Queen and he wouldn't have found himself so shocked. "Right now or-"

"Yeah, right now." Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him. "In the middle of a bloody park. Really Fred?"

Fred racked his mind, he had clearly said the wrong thing. Rebecca bit her lip. She knew that was too forward, that she should have just kept it to herself and not-

Fred grabbed her hands and interrupted her thoughts. He brought them closer to his mouth and tried to keep the smile off his face, failing terribly. "I'm sorry. I didn't meant that, I was just surprised, that's all."

Rebecca couldn't meet his eyes. "That was stupid, I shouldn't have said anything."

Fred laughed loudly, only making things worse for her. She felt so stupid. Fred put his arm up on the back of the bench and kissed her slowly and gently. "It wasn't stupid." Rebecca looked into his eyes briefly before turning her head back to the park. "Really, it wasn't."

Rebecca sighed, "It was. Leaving Hogsmeade's been forbidden and you said we should wait and...I respect that."

Fred tilted her chin so that she was looking back at him. "It's not stupid. Trust me, I want to too."

Rebecca winced, "Really?"

Fred buried his face into her neck and groaned, "You have no idea." When he lifted his head again, she was laughing at him. _"Merlin, I love hearing that laugh."_ Fred kissed her forehead and sat back in his seat, silence taking the two of them as they both thought of the other. Fred patted her thigh, "We have waited...The summer."

"The summer?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

"We'll get it arranged now, George and Ced are going to the Diggory's for a holiday. Gone the week before Bill and Fleur's wedding but..." Fred winked. "I'll need someone to help man the shop."

"You think mum and dad'll let me stay over?" Rebecca looked at him unsurely. 

"You did last summer." Fred remembered the first night she'd slept in the room he only ever thought of as theirs. "They won't have an issue. Dad's made sure...Let's just say we'll be fine." He couldn't help the slight reddening of his cheeks. He hadn't really planned on the conversation taking this turn, she'd really done a number on him. Momentarily, Fred realised that he was thankful. He was thankful that she was so open, not beating around the bush. She had something to say and she said it.

Rebecca nodded, "The summer then."

They were silent a while again. Fred sighed, "I wish it was summer."

*******************************************

"Destination!" Wilkie Twycross walked around the Great Hall slowly, repeating the Three D's of apparition to the eager sixth years. "Determination!" Rebecca stared at the hoop in front of her, ready to finally succeed. "Deliberation!"

Harry was scrunching his face in concentration, Hermione was looking at the hoop indifferently, Ron looked like he was about to cry. "You may attempt when you feel able to do so."

Rebecca closed her eyes and imagined standing in the hoop. She took a slow breath and reached her mind out into the net of magic she imagined around her when in apparating lessons. It was easy for her to do so, it was hardly different than the reaching she had to do with her mind when grasping for the soul of the recently departed.

_CRACK!_

Rebecca felt herself go through the vacuum tube-like feelings of teleportation and opened her eyes in the hoop. Twycross looked around the room for the first student to succeed and nodded as he walked in a circle around her. "Once the first gets it, more will follow!" He promised and offered a quiet congratulations before instructing her to keep up the good work.

Harry stared at her in clear shock. "How did you do that?"

Rebecca shrugged, "You just have to reach for the magic." Harry closed his eyes and reached his hands out. "Harry! Not with your hands!"

He opened his eyes sheepishly. "I knew that."

"With your mind." Rebecca elaborated, laughing at Harry's literalness. "Reach out for the magic around you, it's there."

Hermione considered her words and was the next student to end up in the hoop. "Careful!" Twycross jested as Hermione said she listened to Rebecca's advice. "You'll have me out of a job!"

Neville fell, landing flat on his back. He'd strained himself straight into a faint. Harry did a little jump, but failed to produce any apparation results. Dean and Seamus were across the room whispering words of encouragement to the other, Seamus ending up a few inches short of the hoop with a crack that suspiciously sounded more like a boom.

Rebecca stepped out and continued to put herself into the hoop, giving Harry a wink before apparating into his. "Stop showing off!" He grumbled, closing his eyes to try again. Luckily for Harry and Rebecca who were starting to feel very self-conscious about their ability and lack thereof, the lesson was loudly interrupted when Ernie Macmillan splinched his arm clean off.

The Great Hall was quickly filled with screams and rushing students as Madam Pomfrey levitated the silent, pale Ernie and his arm out of the hall. 

Somehow, in the madness after such a distraction, Harry and Ron had both managed to apparate slightly, though neither ended up in the hoop while Rebecca continued to insist they only had to reach to be able to do it.

Hermione followed them to the back of the Great Hall as the tables were replaced. "You two have just enough time for a quick dinner." She said, checking the time. "Well..."

"It's not like being late is anything new for me." Rebecca laughed and took a seat at the quickly filling tables. "He probably expects it by now!"

*******************************************

"I heard Mr Macmillan caused quite a ruckus in your lesson today." Dumbledore tried to start every memory meeting off with slight conversation.

"You could say he had the class 'up in arms!'" Rebecca laughed loudly, Dumbledore joining her boisterously as Harry humoured them both with a weak chuckle. The limb-related puns had been a 'handful,' as Rebecca had put it earlier.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore wiped at a tear that had collected by his eye. "That's quite good."

"Please, sir." Harry begged. "Don't encourage her."

Rebecca waved her hand at Harry and walked towards the glass cabinet with Dumbledore, "When are we going today, professor?"

Dumbledore plucked the vial he wanted out but didn't move to the pensieve. "How is the collection of the unfettered memory?"

Harry pursed his lips, "It's not, sir." Dumbledore's face showed his disappointment.

Rebecca hated it. She'd spent too many years of her short life being looked at like she was a disappointment, she wasn't going to accept it. "We will try harder, sir. I've been going to tutoring and staying around to clean cauldrons, I know I can get it sir. We will get it."

Harry looked to the ground, "I try too, it's just-"

"Your mother was one of Horace's prized students, succeeded in every way imaginable when it came to Potions." Dumbledore's face wasn't weighed down with the level of disappointment it had moments earlier. "Don't take it to heart, Harry. We surround ourselves with those who remind us of whom we have lost." 

Dumbledore raised the vial, "An important one, as they all have been."

The pensieve's cool water didn't shock her anymore, it was almost a welcome feeling. A shockingly final earthly feeling before they observed the past. The memories they'd seen of Tom's early life had shown her that he started off as a boy and ended up a man. An evil one, but a man all the same. He would fall like all evil has, at the hands of the good.

"Show them to me." Tom demanded. He was older in this memory, an adult. He held himself with the posture of one who thought they were better than their conversation, a round young woman with auburn hair who fished around in the bag at her hip like her life depended on it. It occured to Rebecca and Harry that it very well might.

"I don't know why you're so set on them, Tom Riddle." The woman, still unnamed, said Tom's name with the doting-quality of unrequited attraction. 

"Because I can be, Hepzibah Smith." Tom smirked, "Smith...That's a fairly common name, isn't it? Muggle born?"

Hepzibah narrowed her eyes, "You know well enough that's not true!" Hepzibah sounded like they'd had this conversation before, that it was an inside joke between friends. She set a cup on the table next to a locket. "My lineage traces back to Helga Hufflepuff!"

Tom nodded, "Ah yes, you mentioned. This is her cup, is it not?" 

Hepzibah nodded, "And that locket there belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself. The crown achievements of my collection."

Dumbledore ended the memory but kept them in the pensieve, explaining the significance of what they just saw before leading into the next one. "That, children, was the last memory of Hepzibah Smith alive."

"Tom killed her?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore brought the non-blackened hand to the end of his beard and paused. "Hokey, Miss Smith's house elf, was executed for the crime. This memory was hers. From what I've pieced together, Tom implanted the memory Hokey's trial was based off of, the memory of poisoning her master's tea. By the time this had gone on, I'm afraid Tom's sway in the Ministry had already seeped too far for justice to take its course."

"What did he want with that locket?" Rebecca asked. It looked familiar and for a frightening reason why, it resembled a sketch in Regulus' journals. She'd practically memorised it, cover to cover. She could tell you what each entry went over and that, in Late May of his sixth year, the entries stopped abruptly. 

"That query will have to wait until we have the memory from Horace." Dumbledore waved his hand in front of them and brought the next memory up. "This is my own, unfortunately." As the surroundings of the memory came into focus, Rebecca recognised the fiery pulpits illuminating the stairwell.

"Sir?" Tom called, younger yet. He hardly looked older than Fred or George, though that was where the comparison ended. His eyes retained the hard look Rebecca had come to refer to as the darkness within him. "Sir, have you come to a decision?"

Dumbledore froze and turned back to Tom slowly, his beard shorter than it was now but already streaked with grey. "Yes, I have Tom." His tone told Tom all he needed to know.

"Under what grounds?!" Tom shook his head and stepped back, smoothing his hair back down. "You'll regret this, I swear you will."

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, I won't. What is right can never be regretted. You will never find yourself employed in Hogwarts, not now and not ever."

Tom nodded and clenched his jaw, still making his way away from young Dumbledore. "You will never find a professor to take that position, not for longer than a year."

Dumbledore looked at Tom sadly, "And yet, I still will not consider you."

Tom stormed off, the memory ending with his exit. Dumbledore's office returned and Rebecca wiped her face and left her eyes covered a long moment. It was taxing seeing Tom so young, seeing him begin his descent into madness and ascent into the position he was slowly making his way towards. Harry grabbed her wrist and held onto it, for her and for him.

Dumbledore eased himself into his chair slowly. Harry had noted how frail he had grown, especially curious as to the blackened fingers on his hand. "Here, I insist." 

Rebecca took a deep breath and gently took Harry's hand out from around her arm, "Thank you." Harry shook his head and handed her a licorice wand from the bowl. "Is that why there hasn't been a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor who's lasted more than a year?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Out of spite, Tom jinxed the position." The old man looked off into the distance, thinking heavily. "That will be all for tonight, thank you."

Rebecca continued to munch at her sweet, thinking as well. If Regulus ended up a Death Eater, which his journals proved, it made sense that he would have seen the locket at one point or another. But what didn't make sense was why. Why would he have come across it? Finding the common room a bustling center of activity after such a momentous day left her at east, as the first and second years chased each other around, she and Harry joined the quiet Hermione and Ron in the chairs surrounding a small table near one of the tapestries.

"Did it go well?" Hermione asked cheerily, trying to bring a smile out of either Potter. 

"It went." Rebecca sighed, "We need that memo-What's crawled up her arse and died?"

Harry winced, wishing she could have chosen another euphemism. "Why would that be your first thought-Oh, no, I see it." He glanced over Ron's shoulder to where Lavender was scowling in their directions. 

"I don't even know how I broke up with her!" Ron hissed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm bloody thrilled to be shot of her. It's just...she seems a bit put out."

Hermione and turned around, joining Harry and Rebecca in staring at Lavender. Rebecca waited for Ron to turn his head to before sending her a sweet smile and a wave. The quill in Lavender's hand snapped. "Yeah, a bit." Hermione murmured.

As Hermione and Ron turned back to face Harry and Rebecca, the common room fell deathly silent. Rebecca looked around confused before seeing who walking through the portrait hole. She reached down into the top of her sock and tossed a Confetti-Cannon off to the top of the boys' stairs. The loud crack and sudden raining of multi-coloured paper sent the common room back into motion, leaving Katie to stand in the doorway awkwardly.

Rebecca stood up and was a little surprised to find Harry following right behind her. Katie offered Rebecca a small smile, gesturing to the confetti that continued to fall. "Yours, right?"

Rebecca grinned, "Who else's? How are you?"

Katie nodded once, "Better. Happy to be back. I'm just ready for things to go back to normal." Harry stepped forward and opened his mouth, a serious look on his face. "I already know what you're going to ask, Harry. I don't know who cursed me."

Rebecca shook her head, "That's not what he was going to ask, was it?" She sent him a look that could have frozen the Black Lake.

"No, not at all." Harry blanked. "I was...going..."

Katie laughed, a true, loud laugh. "This is normal, this is what I wanted. Thank you." Katie pulled Rebecca and then Harry into a quick hug, her neck resting on Rebecca's shoulder and her head having to rest against Harry's chest in the short embraces before Katie went towards the stairs and was joined by Padma and Parvati who had abandoned Lavender's murderous aura for happier people.

"There goes that." Harry sighed, "I thought she'd be able to tell us it was Draco so-"

"Just stop, Harry." Rebecca's tone was cool, "Let it rest already." 

Harry's jaw dropped as they slowly made their way back to Ron and Hermione. "What do you mean 'let it rest?' He's a-"

Rebecca turned to him shook her head, "Please. You can think whatever you want, but I think that there's more to the story. I think, like Regulus, he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to be like his family."

Harry shrugged, "Look where Regulus ended up."

Rebecca stared at him a long moment before turning around and going to the girls' stairs. She didn't say another word to him, in fact, she didn't make another sound until she was in bed with the curtains drawn and the silencing charm was up so that no one but Fred could hear her cry.

"I don't understand, Rebecca, please slow down." Fred held the mirror up to his face to hear her better, shaking his head a moment later. "Love, calm down."

In any other situation, she would have found the phrase 'calm down' entirely infuriating. But right then it was exactly what she needed to hear. She wished he was there to an aching extent. "I'm scared, Fred." Fred waited silently, knowing she was collecting herself. "I'm scared about knowing how Regulus died, especially if he was one of the tree's-"

"Wilhomena told you that wasn't solely his fault, you know that." Fred tightened his grip on the mirror. "I'd do anything to be there right now. To be right there in your bed with you." 

Rebecca laughed and wiped her tears on her shirt. "It's a bit teary right now."

"Tears and all." Fred closed his eyes and put his head down on his mattress. "I love you."

"I didn't mean to get quite so upset, I just-" Rebecca shook her head, "I wish Harry could see that Draco doesn't have to be what his family is."

Fred bit his lip, "I know that, and I hear you. But,"

"I heard once that everything that comes before a 'but' is bullshite."

"But," Fred pretended hadn't heard her. "I want you to be safe and smart. Truth of the matter is that his parents _are_ Death Eaters. His family _has_ served Voldemort in the past and is more likely than not doing so now. And! And, if he does have this mystery mission, it very well could have something to do with you and Harry."

Rebecca separated herself from her indignation and listened to his words, nodding. "I hear you."

Fred shook his head, "You and Harry just need to balance each other out. He wants to believe he's guilty and you want to believe he's innocent. Two sides of the same coin."

Rebecca sat up and peeked out of the corner of her beds curtains. "Hermione and Ginny still haven't come up, I'm going to hop into the shower and then get some rest before tomorrow. If you're asleep before I get back, I love you."

Fred yawned, "I may very well be asleep before you've gone." He chuckled, "Had a busy morning. Very tiring."

Rebecca blushed at the mentioning of their snogging. "Good night, Fred."

"Good night, love."

*******************************************

It turns out, Fred was more on the spot than even he knew. Harry had apologised to Rebecca first thing the next morning. He'd neglected to even consider the similarities between the Wollstone's Wood, Regulus, and Rebecca and understood as Hermione was telling him what an arse he had been how right Hermione was.

Rebecca shook her head and told him exactly what Fred had said, that they both just had to balance the other out. 

And the did so. For the weeks after Valentine's Day, Harry would remember that Draco might not be a Death Eater and Rebecca would remember that he could be. It was a faulty system, but it worked. Rebecca thought so at least. She, having been kidnapped by Nigel, Yara, and Louis, wasn't there to balance Harry when he saw Draco's blond head race down the hall the week before the Quidditch final. Harry was on the move in an instant. Ron and Hermione were still at lunch where they would stay until Harry and Rebecca joined them in front of the Charms classroom, Rebecca more likely than not a few minutes behind schedule.

There was something in the way Draco walked though, the way he was racing, that made Harry trail him. Draco turned left and then right, eventually slamming his way into a boys' lavatory that was almost always empty as it was a fair distance from any surrounding classrooms. 

Harry eased the door open silently, wanting to have the element of surprise. He was shocked, to say the least, to find Draco bracing himself on the marble sinks as his shoulders shook in body-trembling sobs of increasing force. Draco brought shaking hands up to the faucet and cupped water to his face, though he cried on.

Harry considered for a brief second turning around and not saying a word, but then he remembered how Katie flew in the air, how her body convulsed as the dark magic took over her. He knew he wouldn't be letting it go, not when the target could very well have been Rebecca. "I know what you did, Malfoy. You hexed her, didn't you?"

Draco turned around and looked at Harry, seeing the hatred and the animosity clear on the other boy's face. It didn't matter what Draco said, Harry already had decided he was guilty. Draco cast the first spell, hitting the cabinet of linens behind Harry before taking off to his right. Harry sent one back, the behind where Draco was moments before shattering and showering the ground with splinters of glass. They went back and forth, Harry at one end of the wall of toilets and Draco at the other.

"Admit it, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, sending another hex. Silence. Harry peeked around the corner and found no movement. The spell that had shattered the mirror had to have hit the pipe to the sink as well, water was flooding over the floor and already an inch or more deep. Harry crouched to the ground to peek under the stalls and jumped up quickly to dodge the hex Draco had been waiting to cast.

There was a squeak and a splash as Draco took off running. Raising his wand around the corner, Harry felt one of the spells he'd learnt from the Half-Blood Prince's book come to the forefront of his mind. _"Sectumsempra!"_ Harry heard Draco fall to the floor.

Rebecca's head shot up from between her fourth year friends, cocking her head as if she was trying to listen to something that she couldn't quite hear. "You know what guys, I think I'm going to have to push this to this afternoon."

Yara looked at her confused, "Why?"

Nigel shook his head, "What is it?" 

Rebecca sat in silence a moment, "I'm not sure."

Harry had no idea then and would never know that Rebecca sensed his anguish. He'd called for her, though he didn't know how. Draco whimpered in the pooling water of the flooding bathroom and bled, cuts opening up on his body and seeping into the water with no sign of stopping. 

Footsteps sloshed past him, a dark robe brushed against him. Professor Snape stared at him and at the scene in front of them, "Such dark magic, Potter. Who would have known you had it in you?" Harry stepped back, shaking his head. "Detention. One month."

Harry ran out of the bathroom as Snape lowered himself to the floor, holding his wand over Draco's heart. _"Vulnera Sanentur."_ Draco's blood filtered itself from the water he was pouring into, making its way back through the cuts in which it had exited and finding the flesh of its owner sealing behind the last drop.

Rebecca sat in horrified silence as Harry relayed to them all what had happened that evening after Harry had asked them all to meet him in the boys' dormitory. Ginny was the first to move, crossing from Ron's window to Harry's side and sitting next to him. "You have to get rid of it. Tonight."

"Give it to me." Hermione spoke softly. "We'll get rid of it."

"We?" Rebecca asked before taking the book. "You and I, right?"

Hermione nodded, "We'll put it where no one will ever find it."

"I didn't know it would do that." Harry told the room, staring directly at Rebecca. "I wouldn't have done it if I had."

Rebecca nodded once, "We know."

*******************************************

"When you said we'd get rid of it, this was not what I had in mind!" Rebecca hissed behind Hermione under the invisibility cloak. "I thought you meant putting it under a bed, throwing it into a fire, something other than the bloody Black Lake!"

Hermione sighed, "As I've already explained, the book didn't burn. You tried that already. We'll fly over to the island in the middle and bury it."

Rebecca looked out over the Forbidden Forest, an idea coming to her mind that she knew Hermione would disagree with. First, the damned book needed to be dealt with. Flying was easy, even though Rebecca was held onto by Hermione so tightly you'd think Hermione couldn't swim. "I'm not sure why you're so afraid. If you fall off and take me with you, you'll just swim away like a bugging fish. Me? Not so much."

Hermione tightened her grip on Rebecca at the thought, not letting go until their feet were on the stony shore of the island that you could only barely see from the Hogwarts shore. "We don't need to go in far," Hermione whispered. "Here will do." Rebecca bent to her knees and went to start digging when Hermione cleared her throat. _"Perfodi tibi!"_ A perfectly round, two meter deep hole was excavated, the dirt rising into a pile next to the new hole.

Rebecca pulled the book out of her bag and dropped it in, holding a hand out for Hermione to wait before filling it in. "Just in case, you know, anyone ever makes their way out here." Rebecca tossed a few things in, a few defensive items she'd been working on for Arthur and Molly to keep at the house. Some would spit ink at the eyes of the one who disturbed it, not causing permanent issues but temporary blindness that would give the attacked a chance to flee. There was another that she was especially proud of that would shock the one who picked it up until they let go of it, plain in design but wickedly painful to mess with.

When Rebecca stood back up, there were about fifteen other reasons that the book would never be messed with. Hermione nodded and cast the dirt back in, patting it flat with her shoe before shakily climbing back onto the broom. "Rebecca?" She asked, "Castle's that way."

"I'm sorry, we have a stop to make first." Rebecca wouldn't answer any of Hermione's questions, bringing the broom towards the forest behind Hagrid's hut and entering the tree line in a tense silence as Hermione fumed and Rebecca searched the ground.

Searching for the path that would take her to the Wollstone's Wood.

*******************************************

Cliff hanger? Yes.

But I love you!

<3


	15. CHAPTER 10

**"Obviously you don't care what I think** ," Hermione's voice wasn't cold, far from it. It was worried--Empathetic even. "But I want to make sure that you're certain this is what you want to do."

Rebecca had found the path just as the day she's seen it last in first year. Granted, the bushes were taller and there was a fair level of overgrowth blocking the way, it was the same and no match for her Nimbus 2000 that she kept a few feet above the ground and flying at a walking-pace. She could see it faintly illuminated against the darkness of night. "You can't see it, can you?" Both girls had taken to whispering once entering the forest, you never knew who or what was around you in the indigo shadows from the trees older than they could possibly know.

"See what, the ground?"

Rebecca shook her head and pointed, tracing the line she was following. "The path?" Hermione shook her head. "And yes, I am certain. I'm..." Rebecca took a quick breath. "I'm happy you're here though. I don't think I could do this alone."

"We shouldn't be doing this at all." Hermione laid her head against Rebecca's back, "But I'm glad I'm with you, too." Hermione paused. "I did think about the possibility of this happening."

"Me kidnapping you and forcing you into the forest to demand answers from a tree? You should go into fiction, you'd make a fortune." 

Hermione nodded, "Poorly worded, but yes. And I think it's a good idea."

Rebecca jerked the broom to a stop, sending both of them forward on its handle. "You what?"

Hermione looked around warily, "Keep going and I'll explain." The broom continued its slow crawl. "I looked up the astronomy charts for the qualities you listed from the centaur books. It's not the end of spring, it's the beginning of summer, like Fred had said. The stars and planets are supposed to align the second week of June. We need to know more, we need to know how dangerous this truly is."

"I didn't know you guys were still thinking about it." Rebecca admitted quietly. 

"Of course we're still thinking about it. One of us is going to find a way out and your brother couldn't find his way in a library if he had both your brains." Hermione grabbed Rebecca sharply, "STOP!"

A large, glowering centaur stared down at them, other centaurs appearing behind him. Rebecca looked at him carefully, "You were there last year, weren't you. When we brought Umbridge to you." The centaur nodded once, "Then you know we mean no harm."

"We know more than you." The centaur's voice was gravelly, "We know why you are here."

"Then you'll let us pass." Rebecca tightened her grip on the handle as Hermione connected her hands around Rebecca's middle. Rebecca could feel the hatred coming off the largest, clearly in power centaur in waves directed at her. "If you know more than we do, then you must know I want answers." Rebecca cleared her throat and stared up at the largest centaur, "Hitchuri agrante, yeturian?"

"Ronan, she speaks the tongue of-"

"Enough, Magorian!" Ronan, now named, stared at Rebecca. "You'll do well to not speak our tongue again, you have not enough legs to hold the weight of our kind's oppression."

Rebecca surprised Hermione as she bowed her head in respect. "I needed you to know I mean no harm, I hope my intentions were greater than my offence."

Ronan cocked his head before turning his large body back to them and waiting for Rebecca to bring the broom to his side. "It was, two-legs. These are dark times, one can never be to defensive. I will take you to the Woman-in-the-Wood. She has not spoken in many moons."

Rebecca nodded, "I know." Ronan stared at her until she elaborated, "The Woolstone's Wood, right? That's the Woman-in-the-Wood."

Ronan spat, "You magic are all alike, renaming that which is already named."

Rebecca turned her head back to the path ahead of them, Hermione gripping her tighter at the centaur's raised voice. "The Woman-in-the-Wood then, but that's where we're going."

Ronan nodded once and said nothing more.

*******************************************

Ginny lay in her bed, tossing a ball she'd nicked from Rebecca's discarded jacket months ago. She wasn't entirely sure of it's purpose yet, all she knew was that no matter how hard or how far she threw it, it flew back to the palm of her hand with a slap and a stinging that was fairly therapeutic.

Hermione and Rebecca still weren't back. It was nearly midnight, they were only supposed to be a little bit, not hours. Ginny sat up in her bed in her empty room and padded across the cold floor until she stopped in front of Rebecca's bed and crawled over it to the window with a view of the Black Lake.

_"They better not be causing trouble without me."_

*******************************************

Rebecca and Hermione were surprised to see the movement of so many other centaurs around the edge of the clearing the path opened up to, the gnarled roots of the tree illuminated by numerous fires burning intermittently. Shadows were cast up from the dancing flames, warping up the brown hues of the bark.

"You may go." Ronan commanded to Rebecca set the broom low enough for her feet to hit the ground. "She will stay."

Rebecca argued, "We came together, we'll stay together."

Ronan shook his head, "No one approaches the Woman-in-the-Wood unless they are asked for."

"It's alright." Hermione held the broom uncomfortably. "I'll stay right here." Ronan nodded in agreement and stared at Rebecca until Rebecca nodded as well and stepped closer to the tree. Concessions had to be made for the truth.

The leaves crumpled under her trainers, her pajama pants rolled as most of hers had to be to not drag under her feet. As Rebecca got closer to the roots where she would sit when Wilhomena had reached her through her dreams, the air felt like it did before a storm: Electric and humming with the sense that something was coming, something strong. 

Rebecca laid a hand on the rough root nearest to her and closed her eyes, reaching her mind out as she tried to explain to Harry one had to do to sense the magic around them. _"Wilhomena?"_

_"You should not be here."_

Rebecca kept her eyes closed, feeling the weakness in the Woman-in-the-Wood's quiet voice. It sounded as if she were leagues away and just making herself loud enough to be heard weakened her. _"Take some, I can share. We have to talk."_ Rebecca tried to bring to mind the image of sliding a stack of sweets across the table like when she, Fred, George, and Cedric played exploding snap. Sending some of the magic in her magical reserves left her tired, but no more so than if she was out running around the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, which she was. 

Wilhomena felt the strongest she had in years, lifetimes even. _"Where does this come from?"_

Rebecca misunderstood. _"I can offer more, I just need a moment. It's sickening, feeling it pour out."_ Rebecca's head shot up in alarm, _"Not that I wouldn't have done it! That's not what I meant!"_

Wilhomena opened her eyes, sending panic through the centaurs. The Woman-in-the-Wood hadn't opened her eyes in the physical realm in the time that their tribe took over the land left behind by their predecessors. _"I need not more, you have spoilt me already."_

 _"It doesn't come freely."_ Rebecca warned, looking up into the tree's eyes intently. _"I need answers."_

_"Do you have the questions for the answers you desire?"_

The centaurs were running back and forth behind her, Hermione not leaving Ronan's side for fear of being trampled. Rebecca was oblivious. _"I told you the first time we met I won't play word games. I want to know what will happen when spring ends and summer begins."_

Wilhomena's eyes lowered, taking in Rebecca's physical body. _"You make yourself bigger in your head. Noticeably so. You are but a child!"_

Rebecca's jaw set in defiance, "I'm 'but a child?'" Hermione looked up at the sound of Rebecca's voice, indignantly rising. "You chose me, this is your bloody task, your bloody riddle! I didn't seem so insignificant when I gave you some of my magic, did I?"

_"I mean no offense, you are mistaken. I simply meant to remark that your physical appearance differs from your otherworldly. A rare enough feat in itself, but accompanied with the sheer depth of your power? Mysterious, to say the least. Especially when one considers the wand in your hand."_

_"What about my wand?"_ Rebecca held it higher so that Wilhomena could see it, as plain as ever. It was brown, shockingly similar in shade to Harry's. It had a line that circled up from the bottom around where her hand gripped it, though it didn't seem to serve any purpose other than ornamental. Ollivander hadn't told her the core, only that it had once belonged to someone remarkably.

_"Your wand's history comes with its shadows, but you must bring it into the light."_

Rebecca realised that she had her question at the work 'mysterious,' the one question she needed answer more than any other. _"I don't want to play games! What happened to Regulus Black? That's my question. Answer it without riddles."_

Wilhomena's eyes steeled. Hermione, unaware of any of their internal communication, was shocked that the eyes that opened out of the rough bark of a tree seemingly like any other could be so expressive. _"I told you, I failed him."_

_"How?"_

_"I do not wish to speak of it."_

Rebecca scoffed, _"How do I know you won't fail me like you did him, then? How do I know your stupid prophecy is real anyway?"_

 _"Watch yourself."_ Rebecca met Wilhomena's glare with one of her own. _"You will not disrespect me as you are."_

Rebecca smirked cruelly, finding herself incredibly bitter at the superiority of the tree's tone. Anger rose up in her that reminded her of the rage Voldemort's influence had brought out in her in years past. _"Should I take back what I have given? Should I leave you too weak to talk and leave the forest as it was?"_

Wilhomena's emotion ebbed and flowed, the leaves of her branches rustling as if a wind blew through them despite the fact that the clearing was entirely still. The centaurs had left, all except for Ronan who stood by Hermione and watched. 

_"I cannot tell you what happened to Regulus Black for I do not know."_ Rebecca went to interrupt, but was silenced. _"He came here, he called for me. Like I said. I was too weak to climb out of the fog, I could not get to him before he left. He did not return before I felt him depart this earthly plane."_

Rebecca found a new obstinance in her. She'd resigned herself to whatever fate would have in store for her because that was what she had deemed the best course of action. She was wrong. _"Well, I'm not coming back. I'm not going to call for you. This is it."_ Wilhomena's face said more than her silence. The tree thought Rebecca was being foolish. _"What was it you just said? You were shocked at the power I imparted? I will get stronger."_

_"No, child. Such questions have never led men to success. Only heartache and fail-"_

_"But I am not 'men.'"_ Rebecca let go of the branch, cutting off the slow flow of power from her to Wilhomena. They felt the effect instantly, Rebecca feeling the humming she'd equated to the environment form a circle around her and Wilhomena feeling the fog of the spirit plane pulling her back down again. _"I am Rebecca Potter Weasley, and I'm not taking any shite. Not from you. Not from Voldemort. And not from another bloody prophecy--I have had enough of those for a lifetime."_

Hermione and Ronan stared on in differing degrees of abject horror as a sheer, wispy line encircled both the tree and Rebecca, a circle the slowly worked its way down until it was only around Rebecca.

Wilhomena tried to grasp back, tried to collect the last bit of herself, _"Beware the fall..."_

Rebecca stood in silence as Wilhomena's presence retreated to wherever it stayed as Rebecca's strength became her own once more. She tried to put away whatever she'd tapped into, but it was like filling in a hole with a spoon: Insurmountable. The power seemed to flow through her blood, flowering into her fingers and leaving her body burning with excess. 

Hermione stepped forward first, dodging Ronan's attempt to grab her to keep her still at his side. "Rebecca?" Rebecca heard Hermione but couldn't move, her eyes were closed and her hands trembled with the sheer strength that tore through her. Hermione laid a hand on Rebecca's shoulder and jerked her out of whatever had held her there, startling her as a current of electricity passed between them. 

"Hermione, you're a genius!" Rebecca shook her head and leaned forward, kissing her on the lips quickly before running to Ronan. Hermione stood in shock, turning to watch confused as Rebecca gave the very confused centaur a high five and picked her broom from where Hermione had put it on the ground. "Let's go!"

Hermione walked to Rebecca slowly, not getting on the broom. "What just happened?"

"You were right." Rebecca couldn't wipe the grin off her face. "This was a good idea."

"But what happened!" Hermione shouted, grabbing Rebecca by the shoulders and holding her still. Rebecca's eyes were dilated to points, her cheeks a stark contrast from the paleness of her face in the red hue that seemed to glow in the night. "Do you need Madam Pomfrey?"

Rebecca laughed, "No! I feel great! I feel...strong." Rebecca looked down at her hands and saw that they were brighter than they should have been in the dark. Her joy vanished instantly and fear grabbed hold of her, "Hermione?"

Hermione grabbed Rebecca's hand and looked at it closer, feeling the heat growing from them. "You need to calm down, turn off whatever she's done!"

Rebecca closed her eyes, trying to slow her racing heart. "I can't! I don't even know where it's coming from!"

Hermione pulled Rebecca's head into her shoulder and held her hand against the back of Rebecca's head. "It's alright, okay? You need to slow down." Rebecca tried to pull back, afraid of hurting her if she couldn't stop whatever was pulsing through her. "You won't hurt me, I know it. Just breathe." Rebecca followed Hermione's breathing, trying to focus only on the feeling of Hermione's fingers slowly tracing circles on her back and her head. Ronan pranced uneasily and had backed up to the edge of the clearing, his tribe calling for him to leave the two-legs to their own problems.

Hermione held Rebecca like that for minutes, waiting until Rebecca's skin felt a healthy-warm. Rebecca lifted her head and glanced at her hands nervously, nothing. They were as pale as they had been when they arrived. "I don't understand what that was."

"You said something about giving her power." Hermione looked at the tree over Rebecca's shoulder. "I don't know how you do the things you do, but I do know that magic isn't like a faucet. You can't just turn it off when you're done."

Rebecca lifted the broom once more, "What is it like then?"

"A dam holding back an ocean."

*******************************************

"I'm not asking you to lie about what happened." Rebecca started as they crept back into the castle under the cloak. "But-"

"But that's exactly what you're going to do." Hermione nodded once, gripping Rebecca's shoulder tightly. "I won't speak of it, but we are going to the library tomorrow."

"Don't you mean today?" Rebecca glanced over her shoulder and saw the unenthused look on Hermione's face. "Sorry."

Hermione paused, "I have a theory."

"Am I going to like it?" Rebecca listened to the silence she got as an answer. "Great, my favourite kind of theories."

Rebecca was right, she hated it. Sitting in the library that afternoon as Ron and Harry played chess before Harry had to go to detention, Rebecca stewed. "This-This is insulting!" Rebecca poked the book roughly, ignoring the shushing they both got from Madam Pince. "An obscurial? I'm not hiding my magic! "

Hermione pulled Rebecca back into her seat and offered the librarian an apologetic grimace. "You're going to get us thrown out if you don't control yourself!"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at the book in distaste, "Fine, it's not like we're doing anything useful in here!"

"Look, read the definition." Hermione slid the book in front of her. "I wouldn't do this without reason."

"Obscurial, a witch or wizard who learnt to suppress their magical urges at the hand of..." Rebecca skimmed the rest of the definition quickly. "You think what? I stored it all up through those years?"

Hermione nodded, "That's exactly what I think. I think you, knowingly or not, forced it to the lowest part of you that you could and I think it that's where you draw whatever-that-was from."

Rebecca stared at the rest of the page, paragraph after paragraph of obscurial children bringing about mass destruction. "And how do you explain this? Better, how can you explain that I can feel the magic in the air." Lavender walked by and glanced between Hermione and Rebecca disgustedly, clearly misunderstanding their conversation. "Oi, Brown! Quit eavesdropping and get a fu-" Madam Pince stood up from her chair, silencing Rebecca immediately. Waiting until Madam Pince wasn't looking, Rebecca finished her threat at a whisper. "Get a fucking move on or I'll have found my newest, permanent tester!"

Hermione sighed and continued to read, warning Rebecca. "You know, sometimes silence is the best form of attack."

"You pulled that out of your arse." Rebecca raised an eyebrow at the glare Hermione sent her. "Well you did!"

"It was wise advice." Hermione turned the page and turned the conversation back to her theory. "Do you feel that you belong?"

"What sort of stupid question is that?" Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Course I belong." Hermione stared at the page, waiting for Rebecca to think about the question. "Belong where?"

"Belong in general." Hermione had to wait a long time before Rebecca spoke again.

Rebecca bit her lip and spoke quietly. "I'm not a blood Weasley, but I share their home. You could say I don't truly belong there. I'm a Potter, but sometimes I feel like I only am by name." Rebecca's hands stilled from their fidgeting on the table. "I don't feel like a muggle because I only knew William's house and school, that was it. Don't belong there. I don't feel like a witch because I only know what I've learnt since the Weasleys, how can I belong here?" Hermione listened carefully, hoping that Rebecca realised that her idea wasn't as mental as Rebecca had thought. "I belong with Fred, that part I'm certain but..."

"That's good then, that you're certain."

"No, I-I want you to tell me I'm wrong." Rebecca looked to Hermione anxiously. "You've never lied to me, Hermione. I trust you'll tell me if I am-Wrong that is." Hermione nodded. "I belong with Fred...but I worry sometimes that he's putting himself in more danger when he's with me. When Harry or I are with anyone, really."

"You are wrong." Hermione answered and turned back to the book. "Stupidly wrong." Rebecca nodded. "I mean really stupidly wrong."

"I get it." Rebecca tapped the book. "So what does this mean, knower of things?"

Hermione closed the book with a muffled thump, wincing at the noise. "What does it mean? Nothing. It's just a theory and, no matter what degree it's true to, it's clearly resolved itself or your obscurus would be wreaking havoc and hurting people."

"So you mean to tell me that I just poured out my biggest insecurities to prove a point?"

"Yes."

Rebecca stared at Hermione, "I love you, but I hate you."

*******************************************

"Hello Professor Slughorn!" Rebecca called as they turned onto the same corridor the next day. Harry and Ron were none the wiser as to their midnight detour and Ginny was only cross until Hermione swore that what Rebecca and she had told her what happened was it. The Potions Master looked at them and paled before turning back the other direction, offering only a weak wave.

"I see that's not working." Hermione saw how Rebecca's face fell. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about." Rebecca muttered, pulling her bag tighter over her shoulders. "Potions? Who cares anyway?" Her voice betrayed that she did, quite a bit. Potions had become one of her most enjoyable classes without Snape there to torment her. She'd already passed along updated recipes through Fred in things she'd been playing around with with the new skills Slughorn had imparted to her. She and the professor had spent a number of afternoons going over 'theoretical' questions Rebecca had before they had disastrously tried to get the memory Dumbledore tasked them with.

Ron and Harry glanced at each other over the girls' heads, but said nothing as Rebecca reached into the small pouch she'd haphazardly attached to the strap of her bag and pulled out something small and dark. Rebecca tossed it at the ceiling and said nothing, only continuing to walk away.

"What was that?!" Harry asked nervously, walking beside Rebecca and trying not to look suspicious. He had enough detentions on his plate without Rebecca adding more. She was still fuming over the fact that now he wouldn't be playing in the final, but Ryan had asked to bring one of their third year friends to practise to see if the friend was good enough to take Ginny's spot. Rebecca and Harry insisted she take over seeker like she had when Umbridge had banned them both, she was their only hope at a snitch win.

"Rain-Drop." Rebecca shook her head, "Name's in progress." Shouts and laughs echoed out of the corridor behind them. "It'll sprinkle for a minute or two but the water won't puddle on the ground. New idea."

"What's the point of that?" Ron asked, turning his head over his shoulder. "Doesn't seem like that big a deal."

"It's not." Rebecca shrugged and refused to meet any of their eyes, "I just want to mix things up."

The rest of the walk to Transfiguration and the day was spent chatting and planning out the course of that night's homework doing, their professors had certainly assigned enough of it. Ron threw his head back against the chair and groaned loudly, "THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL US!"

Rebecca looked up sharply, "Don't say things like that, Ron." Fred, despite his wishes, told Rebecca the real news whenever he got any: Sirius and Remus continued to travel about the country to scrounge up support wherever they could, people continued to go missing, people continued to show up dead. "Do your bloody essay, maybe it'll give you a new phrase."

Ron muttered darkly and dipped his quill into the well before looking up expectantly, "Can I check yours? I'll make sure it's good and all." 

Rebecca gave him a knowing eye roll and handed it over, "Sure!" 

Ron looked at it and handed it back grumpily. "You're a horrible person."

"Qu'est qu'un problème?" Rebecca smirked and pulled the real essay out of her bag and handed it to him. "That's not my essay, I had to test the latest batch of French Fancies before I could owl it to the shop."

Harry turned back to his essay, no idea that an owl was coming to him that would change their lives forever. 

*******************************************

"What is it, Harry?" Rebecca asked curiously as Harry tore open the letter from Hagrid. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Harry slid the letter over to her.

_"Dear Harry, Rebecca, Ron, and Hermione,_

_Aragog died last night. Harry and Ron, you met him and you know how special he was. Hermione and Rebecca, I know you'd have liked him. It would mean a lot to me if you'd nip down for the burial later this evening. I'm planning on doing it round dusk, that was his favourite time of day. I know you're not supposed to be out that late, but you can use the cloak. Wouldn't ask, but I can't face it alone._

_Hagrid_

"Oh, that's so sad." Rebecca murmured before looking up to Harry. "That was his Acromantula, he talked about him in class just a few weeks ago."

Ron stared at her, "You remembered something like that from _weeks ago?"_

Rebecca ignored him, "We have to go. It's only right. He asked us specifically." 

Harry felt that gnawing at the back of his mind, the same feeling he'd had last time he looked at the Felix Felicis. "I think you need to go, Rebecca." Rebecca looked away from Hermione and gave him nod to go on. "I think you need to go for all of us with some luck."

"What are you going on about?" Rebecca laughed, "Luck? It's a funeral."

"Liquid luck." Harry nodded, "Something's telling me you have to."

Hermione stared at Harry, "Something or someone?"

"It's not Voldemort, if that's what you're asking. It's a...hunch." Harry grinned, "Besides, who knows what'll happen with a bit of luck in play."

Rebecca tried to capture some of Harry's enthusiasm as the four of them piled into the boys' room and Harry dug through his drawers. "We could all just go to the funeral..."

Ron looked at her and put his hands on his hips. "I don't know about you, but I can't think of a single possible way for the FOUR of us to fit under the same cloak we all did when we were eleven. Most of us have grown."

Rebecca flipped him two fingers and took the little vial out of Harry's hand. "Half then, you'll keep the rest for whatever you choose." Harry rolled his eyes and motioned for her to hurry up. Rebecca smelled it carefully, still uncomfortable at the idea of having magically induced good luck. 

She brought the vial to her lips and took two quick swallows, leaving just under half in the glass that Harry took from her happily. "How do you feel?" Harry looked her over, there was clearly something settling over her. 

Rebecca nodded and stood up, "Brilliant!" She felt ten feet tall. She wasn't missing Fred, she wasn't thinking about homework, she wasn't thinking about the shop, she was wholly focused on the current moment. "I've got a funeral to go to, catch you later!" She turned and plucked Harry's old coat off his bed, swinging it over her shoulders. "Borrowing this!"

Harry and Ron laughed while Hermione sighed. "What's the matter?" Ron asked her, sobering himself for a moment.

Hermione joined their restarting laughter, "You're just happy you didn't have to go see the spider!"

*******************************************

Rebecca found Harry's coat to be exactly what she needed in the brisk evening of late April. She sauntered out of the castle, chatting with whomever she passed happily. The air seemed to have a feeling to it that would have usually had her thinking only as to how much she wished Fred was there, but now had her thinking about how quickly summer was approaching and they would be together again.

Trotting down the sidewalk with the cloak tucked into her newly assumed coat, Rebecca saw a portly body sticking out from under the cracked open Herbology greenhouse window. "Professor?"

Professor Slughorn, who had been trying to nick some more of the leaves Madam Pomfrey had deemed he had had enough of, jumped and thumped his elbow on the glass. "Merlin's beard, Rebecca!"

"Sorry, sir!" Rebecca grinned and took the scissors from his hand and picked up the box he was trying to fill. As Slughorn cradled his twinging arm, Rebecca deftly filled his box without a single bite from the hissing plant, a feat in itself. "Probably thought I was Professor Sprout, aren't you lucky I'm not."

"Why would that be an issue?" Professor Slughorn tried to feign innocence.

"The sneaking around, jumping when you saw me, the fact that these are tentacula leaves that are very valuable and hard to come by." Rebecca's jaw dropped, "Professor!"

"Yes, Rebecca?" Slughorn sounded nervous.

"I simply must be going now. I hope this will suffice." Rebecca put the now overflowing box into his hand and continued on her merry way.

"How did you get out of the castle?"

Rebecca turned back, still walking backwards slowly. "Right out the front door, sir. I fancied a visit down to Hagrid's. He's a very dear friend of mine, not to mention a bloody wicked professor."

"Rebecca!" Slughorn hissed in shock.

"Sir!" Rebecca mocked with a slight bob of her head. Slughorn noticed that the scar on her face was incredibly noticeable, her hair was pulled back in a way that she rarely, if ever, did. It made her look older, frighteningly so. Horace wasn't speaking to the child he looked at all of his students as, but an adult.

"It's nearly nightfall, surely you realise I cannot allow you to be roaming the grounds by yourself."

"By all means, come along!" Rebecca waved an arm over her shoulder before leading the way down the winding path to Hagrid's hut. 

Nearly arrived, Slughorn had fallen to a few paces behind her as she found a sense of purpose pushing her to walk quickly. "Rebecca, I must insist you accompany me back to the castle at once!"

"That would be counterproductive!" Rebecca called back before pausing on the last outcropping that overlooked Hagrid's pumpkin patch. 

"What makes you say that?" Slughorn panted and caught up with her.

"I'm expected at the funeral."

Slughorn paled at the sight ahead of them and found his own sense of purpose to speed him up past his old man's lumbering gait that had him trailing behind. There, in front of Hagrid, Fang, and now Rebecca, was the largest Acromantula Horace had ever seen. 

Hagrid watched them arrive cautiously, but didn't say anything other than a quick greeting to them both. Rebecca shook her head and wrapped her arms as far as she could around Hagrid. "I'm so sorry, Hagrid."

Hagrid wiped his nose and blew into his kerchief that could have been a small tablecloth. "Don't tell the others, Rebecca, but I'm glad it's only you. You understand." Rebecca nodded and took his side. 

Horace found his voice and, with it, offense. "How on earth did you manage to kill such a beast?"

"KILL SUCH A BEAST?" Hagrid roared before dissolving into tears and wiping his nose again. "My oldes' friend, he was."

"He just misunderstood, Hagrid." Rebecca patted the half-giant's arm. "He didn't mean it, Aragog was a king among men."

Hagrid took a shuddering breath and offered Horace an apologetic nod, "I know, it jus'-Spiders are seriously misunderstood creatures." Hagrid turned back to Aragog. "It's the eyes, I reckon. Tend to unnerve some folk."

Rebecca agreed and lifted her hands to her mouth and made a pinching motion. "Not to mention the pincers."

Hagrid looked at her a long moment as she made a clicking and pinching motion. "Yeah, I reckon that too."

"Hagrid," Horace spoke in the silence that formed as the three looked over the massive carcass. "The last thing I want to be is indelicate, please know that, but Acromantular venom is uncommonly rare. Would you allow me to extract a vial or two? Purely for academic purposes, of course."

Hagrid looked at Horace a moment before looking into the distance. "Well, I don't suppose it's doing him any good now, is it?"

"My thoughts exactly!" Horace stepped forward and dug around in his coat's pocket. "Always have an ampoule or two about me just for this reason!"

Rebecca scratched Fang's head and watched as Slughorn and Rebecca were treated to Hagrid's laments about the loss of such a young life. "I wish you could've seen him in his prime. Magnificent he was, just magnificent."

Horace took his place with the others minutes later, his new find clinking as he walked. "Would you like me to say a few words?" The Potions Master offered. Hagrid nodded. "He had a family, I trust?"

Rebecca nodded, remembering the stories Harry and Ron had told her of their arrival to Hogwarts their second year when Aragog and the Ford Anglia met each other. "Oh yeah, quite a large one."

Horace bowed his head, "Farewell..."

Hagrid nodded his head, "Aragog."

Horace began again, "Farewell Aragog, king of the arachnids. Your body will decay, but your spirit lingers on. And your human friends find solace in the loss they have sustained." Horace turned to Rebecca and gave her a strange look. "Now how about an unsullied drink?"

Hagrid couldn't have agreed more. He'd pulled out a bottle of brandy and three cups before Horace and Rebecca had even cleared his doorway. The minutes turned to nearly an hour and, as Rebecca found quite evident, Horace and Hagrid were heavily inebriated. Their singing proved it as much as their stumbling.

Finishing their latest song, Hagrid downed the rest of his cup and poured himself another. He held the bottle out to Rebecca, but she shook her head and showed her still mostly full cup. She was wary about alcohol counteracting the splendid feeling that filled her ever since she drank the Felix Felicis. 

"I had him since he was an egg, a tiny little thing when he hatched!" Hagrid laughed, "No bigger than a pekinese!"

Horace's speech was slurred, but inteligible. "I once had a fish. Francis! He was very dear to me. One morning I came downstairs...he vanished! Poof!"

"That's odd, innit?" Hagrid asked Rebecca who, at her spot across the table, nodded.

"That's life though--We go along and then suddenly, poof!" Horace clapped his hands. Hagrid's head went back like the clap had cast him asleep, snores leaving his mouth before his head thumped against the wall behind them. Horace met Rebecca's eyes, though his were distant. "It was a student who gave me Francis. One spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk with just a few inches of water in it. Floating on the surface, a flower petal."

Rebecca listened carefully, sensing the story would be very important later.

"As I watched, it sank. Just before it reached the bottom it transformed, into a wee fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold. The flower petal came from a lily." Horace looked at Rebecca, seeing her once more. "Your mother gave me that gift." He cleared his throat before continuing on. "The day I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty, was the day your mother..." 

Rebecca wanted to look away, she wanted to not hear anything else on the subject. The pain the idea of the parents she never had couldn't be completely masked by the potion and it was an ache in her chest that didn't ebb or go away, it simply stayed there until it was forgotten about and something happened to remind her of the constantness of it.

"I know why you're here." Horace said. "But I can't help you. It would ruin me."

Rebecca swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you know why Harry and I survived, professor? The night we got these?" She reached up and brushed her finger against her lightning bolt scar. "Because of her and James. Because they sacrificed themselves. Because she refused to step aside and because he refused to give us to him. Because their love was more powerful than Voldemort."

"Don't say his name."

"I'm not afraid of the name, professor!" Rebecca sighed and stood up, her hands resting on the table as she leaned over it towards Horace. "I'm going to tell you something. Something others have only guessed at. It's true. Harry and I? We are the Chosen Ones. Only we can destroy him, but we need to know what Tom Riddle asked you to do so. We need to know what you told him all those years ago in your office." 

Horace shook his head. "Be brave, professor. Be brave like my parents." Rebecca stared at him. "Otherwise you disgrace her. You disgrace him. You disgrace every person who has ever laid their lives down to the monster you helped create for the ones they love. Otherwise...Otherwise the bowl will remain empty forever."

Slughorn paused a long moment before speaking. "Please don't think badly of me when you see it. You have no idea what he was like, even then." Slughorn raised his wand to his temple and pulled out a white whisp that he placed into one of the glass amoeples he carried. His hands trembled, to the point where he couldn't get the end of his wand to reach the lip. Rebecca reached out and steadied his hand, replacing the lid and putting it into Harry's coat before leaving Hagrid's hut with her mission wholly accomplished.

*******************************************

"You got it!" Fred laughed triumphantly from his side of the mirror, his grin clear even though both of them lay in their dark beds. "I knew you would! I told you just as much!"

Rebecca laughed, the last vestiges of the potion still in her system. "You were right. All's well that ends well."

Fred nodded, "Yes, all's well that ends well." Fred felt something compel him to speak on. "Have I ever told you that that's one of my favourite things to hear you say?"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "No, you haven't. What else do you like?"

Fred pursed his lips. "I like to hear you talk to yourself while you work, or sing to the records even though you never know the words." Rebecca buried her head in her pillow as Fred continued. "I love to hear you laugh, it's my favourite sound in the world. If I could hear it every minute of every day...I think I would."

"You've gone too far now." Rebecca raised her head, "If you heard me laugh every minute, how would I tell you that I love you?"

Fred considered it, "Then I'd hear you laugh every minute except for one."

*******************************************

Author's Note:

This is one of those chapters that I just don't know about. It's hard, but I've been trying to incorporate a fair amount of original story into the Half-Blood Prince's plot. I'd love to know what you think. Next chapter will probably be started tonight.

<3


	16. CHAPTER 11

**"Dumbledore wants us tonight."** Rebecca told Harry as she slapped the correspondence on the table at lunch the next day. "Expected, now confirmed."

Harry nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. Ron and Hermione were speaking in hushed tones, the only word Rebecca caught was "your own homework." Rebecca, sighing at Harry's distraction, followed his gaze to Ginny farther down the table. "You could always talk to Ron about it. Not like he can really have an issue."

Harry scoffed, "It's Ron, he'll have an issue."

"Then you can tell him it's no different than Fred and I." 

Ron's head shot up, "What about Fred? He and George apologise yet?"

Rebecca buried the grin that wanted to show deep down in her, only allowing a shadow of it to cross her face. "No, Ron, and they're not going to. You shouldn't have opened my letter anyway." Fred and George had been experimenting with different mail-based pranks to get the Ministry workers combing through the mail of Hogwarts students and one had gotten through. One, that upon opening, turned the hair of the opened a unfadeable pink for the day. Rebecca knew exactly what they were doing, she'd sent her own back to them. It was Ron's nosiness that left him with hair that even Tonks would have had to try to mimic.

"I misread who it was for." Ron muttered, still sticking to his alibi.

"Professor Slughorn told me good morning." Rebecca mentioned, the privacy that Rebecca and Harry had had now too far gone to continue to discuss Harry's pining for Ginny that only Ron seemed oblivious to.

"Really!" Harry grinned, "I guess I can have the good ideas once in a while."

Rebecca laughed, "Don't make a habit of it, that's my job."

Hermione looked at the two of them and snorted before she covered her face and laughed as if they had told her the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "Y-You two would be in a ditch somewhere without us!" Hermione gasped out. 

Ron considered what she said and joined her laughter. "Twice over, if we're honest." Hermione laid her hand on Ron's shoulder and continued to laugh at Harry and Rebecca who shared a knowing look with one another at the contact between their friends. 

*******************************************

"Congratulations are in order," Dumbledore addressed Harry and Rebecca proudly. "I have coveted this memory for many years, I thank both of you for the roles you played in its securing." The headmaster walked to the pensieve with a purpose. "We'll not waste too much time with pleasantries tonight, the truth awaits."

Harry and Rebecca were in equal states of eager anticipation to see the memory they'd spent most of the school year trying to get. Rebecca, while also happy that the mission imparted to them by Dumbledore had succeeded, felt an underlying relief at the restoration of Professor Slughorn's talking to the Potter twins. There were only a few months left of the year and Rebecca wanted to make sure the rest of it was spent learning as much as she could to bring more skills to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes production lines.

Rebecca put her hands on the table next to Harry's and smiled as Harry's covered the hand closest to him with his own. "Let's see the truth."

Their surroundings took the shape of Slughorn's old office, exactly as the other memory had looked towards the middle. Tom, his eyes as menacing as ever, tapped the conversation-measuring hourglass and caught Slughorn's attention. "I was in the library the other night in the Restricted Section..."

Rebecca and Harry followed Tom across the room, listening carefully for the point in which the true memory would divert itself from the false one they had already seen.

"...and I read something rather odd about a bit of rare magic. It's called, as I understand it," Rebecca held her breath for the big reveal. "A horcrux."

The effect on young Professor Slughorn was instantaneous, shock. "I beg your pardon?"

Tom repeated himself as if Horace had simply not heard him. "Horcrux. I came across the word while reading and I didn't fully understand it."

"I'm not sure what you were reading, Tom, but this is very dark stuff. Very dark, indeed."

Tom softened his gaze, though the glint never left his eyes. "Which is...why I came to you."

Professor Slughorn stood in silence a moment before speaking quietly. "A horcrux is an object in which a person has concealed a part of their soul."

Tom stepped forward, sending Rebecca backwards out of his path. It didn't matter that this was only a memory, she didn't want to be in his path so that the years old image of him could pass through her. "But I don't understand how that works, sir."

"One splits one's soul and hides part of it in an object. By doing so, you are protected should you be attacked and your body destroyed."

"Protected." Tom repeated.

"That part of your soul that is hidden lives on." Slughorn's face was coated in clear horror, though Tom didn't see it. His eyes were distant with the possibility of immortality. "In other words, you cannot die."

Tom turned to the right and stepped to the fireplace, leaning against its top confidently. "And how does one split his soul, sir?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, Tom."

Tom cocked his head to the side. "Murder."

"Yes." Slughorn stared at his student. "Killing rips the soul apart. It is a violation against nature."

Tom stared into the fire now, his hand having left its position on the brick wall to spin the dark ring on his finger. "Can you only split the soul once? For instance, isn't seven-"

"Seven?" Slughorn gasped. "Merlin's beard, Tom. Isn't it bad enough to consider killing one person? To rip the soul into seven pieces...This is all hypothetical isn't it, Tom? All academic?"

Tom turned slowly to Slughorn and smirked, "Of course, sir." Tom's eyes flitted to the side. "It'll be our little secret."

And that was how the memory ended, Tom's eyes boring into Slughorn's as the old, smaller office of the Potions Master faded away and Harry and Rebecca were once more in Dumbledore's office. Rebecca's hair had continued to be pushed away from her face--An after effect of the Felix Felicis or a new found lack of insecurity at the scar that wrapped around her eye, who knew. Her glasses were beaded with the pensieve water and her mind was jumping to conclusion faster than the Fire-breathing Horned Frog from Magical Creatures last month.

"Sir-" Dumbledore raised his hand and silenced her. He turned and walked to the stone stairs leading to the rest of his office, setting himself on one with his hands wringing. 

"This is beyond anything I imagined."

Harry looked up, "You mean to say he succeeded sir, in making a horcrux?"

"He didn't make just one, did he sir?" Rebecca asked.

"He did succeed, and not just one." Dumbledore pushed himself to his feet, leaving Rebecca and Harry to trail after him.

"What are they exactly?" Harry asked.

"They could be anything! Most commonplace of objects." Dumbledore stopped at his desk and slid something down the table that rang out. "A ring." Dumbledore turned over what he used to push the ring to them, "A book."

"Tom Riddle's diary." Harry breathed.

"Yes, a horcrux. Four years ago when you saved Ginny Weasley's life in the Chamber of Secrets, you brought me this." Rebecca stared at Harry. She'd been told a brief recollection of events as she and Hermione had been petrified through the ordeal, but it had never been worded as plainly as Dumbledore was now. "I knew then this was a different kind of magic. Very dark, very powerful. Before tonight...I didn't know how powerful."

"And the ring?" Rebecca asked, pointing to it. 

"Belonged to Voldemort's mother. Difficult to find. Even more difficult to destroy." Dumbledore held up his withered, blackened fingers for them to see.

"But if we found them all, if we destroyed each horcrux--" Rebecca spoke quickly.

"One destroys Voldemort."

"But how would we find them?" Harry asked. "They could be hidden anywhere."

"True. But magic, especially dark magic--" The room was filled with a terrible screaming and high pitched ringing as Rebecca touched the ring of Voldemort's mother. She and Harry both saw flashes of a woman screaming, seven shells lined up in a row, Voldemort's face. Both felt the tension return to their necks that required movement to ease. Dumbledore stared at them. "Leaves traces." He walked around his desk and looked Harry and Rebecca up and down.

"That where you've been going, isn't it sir?" Harry inquired.

"When you leave the school?" Rebecca elaborated.

"Yes. And I think, perhaps, I may have found another. But this time, I cannot hope to destroy it alone." Dumbledore sighed. "Once again, I must ask you too much of you both." Dumbledore outlined the plan: They would meet him at the top of the Astronomy Tower in two days. Dumbledore was adamant that their absent from their apparation exam and the quidditch final could not be excused, even by the headmaster himself. "We cannot arise suspicion, Voldemort has eyes everywhere." Dumbledore justified.

Rebecca didn't care. Today, tomorrow, two days from now, it didn't matter to her. They would destroy a horcrux either way.

*******************************************

"You are insane." Harry whispered as he wrapped Rebecca into a hug, not caring that she was positively disgusting with the much of a well-played quidditch game. "You're mad! First the exam, now this?" As Ginny scoured the sky for any sign of the snitch, Rebecca, Ryan, and Jade--Ginny's replacement--flew through the air like they'd been born on brooms. They executed plays from the book McGonagall had used in her playing time, they plucked the quaffle directly out of Ravenclaws hands, they scored point after point after point. Ravenclaw dug their heels in the sand towards the end, never giving in, but in the end it wasn't enough. The Gryffindor chasers were too talented.

As for Harry's comment, apparation exams had gone without error for Rebecca and Hermione. Harry and Ron, however, would need to return to Hogsmeade for the next issuance of examinations.

"And the winners!" Rebecca shouted so the common room could hear her, bringing about a fresh round of shouts and cheers. "CHAMPIONS AGAIN!" The common room echoed her cries and broke out the supplies for a celebration that seemed to never run low, the drinks of adult enjoyment, the banners, the records.

Rebecca hoisted the quidditch cup onto the shelf where it would sit another school year and grinned at her reflection in it. "You should have played." She told Harry who was still at her side, though his back was to the wall and he observed the party. "Missed a hell of a match."

"I was right there in the stands." Harry answered vaguely, his attention elsewhere. All of the players were still in their kits and Harry was noticing just how well the red and gold suited Ginny. 

"It's a celebration, you should celebrate." Rebecca laughed, "You know I would!" Harry made no move. "Harry, we talked about this. 'Big boy trousers?'"

Harry gave her a look, no humour, no joking. "And what if it ruins Ron and my friendship? Is it worth that? Is anything?" He nodded for Rebecca to answer.

"I can't tell you that," Harry scoffed. "I can't! No one can, it's a decision you have to make for yourself. But..." Rebecca sighed and put her back to the wall next to Harry, the top of her head aligned with the top of his shoulder. "I will tell you that I haven't regretted anything. Not when it comes to him."

"Yet you regret other things?" Harry asked curiously. 

"Things I can't do anything about, sure." Rebecca rolled her eyes at his demanding look. "If I could have kept us together, I would have. If I could have known about magic earlier, I would have. If I could have lived differently, I would have. If, if, if. Regrets aren't missed opportunities, whoever said that was dumber than a troll. Regrets are simply the reasons we should enjoy what we have." Rebecca took a slow breath. "If I had stayed with you forever, I wouldn't have the same appreciation for you that I do. If I had known about magic earlier, I wouldn't find it so awe-inspiring. Truth is," Rebecca sighed, "If anything had changed about our lives, I might not have found you, I might not have ended up at Hogwarts or the Weasleys, I might not have found Fred."

"And?" Harry didn't see a point.

"And I would hate to not have any of those things, you dullard." Rebecca punched his shoulder and looked at the cup one more time. "Now pucker up, buttercup!"

Harry ignored her and flattened the back of his hair as he walked towards Ginny. Rebecca went to stand near Hermione and Ron and stopped at the back of one of the couches, digging down behind one of the cushions and pulling out a thick roll of parchment. Harry steeled himself and reached out for Ginny's shoulder, catching her attention. 

"Harry! I'm sorry you didn't play." Ginny looked over his face, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Harry shook his head, "No ghost, I just-I, um...I wanted-I wasn't sure if...Maybe-" 

Ginny gave him a crooked smile. "Eloquently put." Harry frowned, embarrassed. Ginny studied Harry a moment. "Maybe you should just show me." 

Harry couldn't help his eyes leaving hers to glance at her lips. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know, what are you going to do?" Harry leaned forward kissed her quickly, hoping that his track record of making a girl cry was only one girl long. 

Hermione and Rebecca grinned to each other while Ron's jaw dropped and he stepped away from Hermione, a scowl on his face. "Ah, ah, ah. That's far enough." Rebecca held her hand in front of Ron's chest to stop him.

"He's-He's-"

"He's not doing anything Fred and I haven't. If I'm good enough for Fred, it only makes sense that Harry is good enough for Ginny." Ron stared at her and went to speak again. "No, there isn't a difference Ronald." Rebecca undid the wax seal and unrolled the lengthy parchment and kept it from Ron's sight. "Do you know what this?"

"Of course I don't bloody know what it is!" Ron bellowed, catching the attention of those around them.

Rebecca answered calmly, "This would be a list of your every infraction of every school rule this year." Ron's eyes widened at the length of it. "Would you like to read it over-"

Ron snatched it out of her hands and read it in disbelief, "Put shoes on common room couch! That's not a rule!"

Hermione winced, "It is."

Ron moved on, "Misdirected first year! I didn't do that!"

Emmett raised his hand from between his other first year friends, "Yes, you did..."

Ron bore his eyes into Rebecca's and clutched the roll tightly, "What does this have to do with Harry defiling-"

"Defiling? Ron, I must insist you find another verb. Wooing, perhaps?" Rebecca shook her head, "That's not important. That, sweet, innocent Ron, has yet to be sent to mum. Unless of course, you can find it in your heart to be rational. Then it'll never need to be read by another person. It's up to you, really."

Ginny watched the interaction carefully, the common room an awkward silence as the celebration continued despite the familial strife. Ron took a long, eternity-feeling pause before giving Rebecca back the list. "Hasrmeain doal."

"What was that?" Rebecca lowered her ear to him and winked at Harry. "I couldn't quite catch it."

"Harry will do."

Ginny and Harry felt a weight lift off of them that they hadn't entirely been aware of, the weight of Ron's judgement. "I'm glad you saw reason." Rebecca balled up the list and tossed it into the fire. "I'll leave you two, party to have and all."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other before looking away, clearly not ready to talk about anything other than Harry and Ginny a while longer.

Ryan and Jade had their feet hanging off the Tower at the open window in the back of the common room, the cool breeze flowing over them. "Congratulations, we've earned it." Rebecca sat in the remaining space and straddled the window sill, one leg dangling out with theirs and the other remaining in the tower. "I do feel required to say that you should be careful sitting like this though."

Ryan smirked, "Haven't we proven we can fly yet?"

Rebecca nodded, "That you have, both of you. On a broom though, not sure how well any of us would do with one." Rebecca scratched the back of her neck, "Jade, I do hope we can count on you as alternate chaser next year. I'm sorry a permanent position isn't open."

Jade shook her head, "Don't be, it'll be there eventually. One more year and someone will have to take over your spot."

"And it'll be me." Ryan crowed, their voice carrying out into the night. Rebecca left the third years to fight over who would go farther in their quidditch career and went to the table of drinks, surveying the selection pickily.

"Not doing anything nefarious, are you?" Nigel spoke from behind her. "I remember a certain past action that shouldn't be repeated."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him and poured out two cups of punch, handing one to him. "Nefarious? Me?" Nigel sipped at his cup and grimaced at the spiked-taste, causing the two of them to laugh.

"Another season done. Year's almost through!" Nigel shook his head, "I can't believe it."

"Yeah? Wait until you're older to say that." Rebecca looked at Nigel and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I've really appreciated you this year, Nige. From the Slug Club party to testing, you've been a great friend."

"The party was the highlight of my year!" Nigel chuckled, "Slughorn in evening wear trying to teach me how to dance 'as we did in the old days, my boy.'" Nigel's impression of Slughorn was spot on. "Don't thank someone for things that any friend would have done, it's a waste of time."

"A waste of time? What else do you have to do?" Rebecca was pulled forward in an instant, Nigel's hand hooked onto her wrist. "Oh no, Nigel!"

"You have to! It's the same song as Christmas!" Nigel raised his hands up and jumped about, perfectly comfortable enough to bring others to the area in front of the record player. "I know you want to!"

Rebecca downed the last bit of her drink and set her cup down, dancing as Nigel was. Ginny and Harry watched from the side, talking to each other quietly. "She's mental." Harry said over Ginny's shoulder as she poured a drink. "Positively mental."

Ginny held her cup and grinned, "We should join them."

Harry winced, "You have seen me dance, right?"

Ginny nodded, "And I'm about to see it again."

*******************************************

"I want you guys to have this." Harry said two days later, sitting up in their room as they had before sending Rebecca off to Aragog's funeral. In his hand was the remaining bit of the Felix Felicis. 

"We can't-"

"You should take it!"

Hermione and Ron argued adamantly. 

"Who knows if-" Rebecca paused and looked away before finishing, it had been her idea and Harry had agreed vehemently, especially at her reasoning. "What if Draco tries something?"

"We don't even know where we're going." Harry stepped in, seeing that Rebecca was done. "We need to know that you lot are safe."

Hermione took the vial, knowing with both of them on the same page that there was nothing in the world that could change their minds. "You've got a jumper, don't you?"

Rebecca grabbed it from where she'd set it down, pulling it on over and offering Hermione a soft smile, "Yeah, thanks."

"And you've got your wands?" Ron asked.

Harry and Rebecca pulled theirs out from where they had been and thanked Ron as well. Ginny stood up and hugged Rebecca first, leaving a kiss on her forehead before moving onto Harry and Hermione took Ginny's place in front of Rebecca. Ron, unable to say anything, simply wrapped his arms around her and held her there until Hermione patted his back for him to move on. 

"You be careful," Ron whispered. "I won't be the one to tell mum she lost one of us."

Rebecca held her hand to Ron's cheek and shook her head, "You won't." Leaving a peck on his cheek, Rebecca and Harry walked to the portrait hole with their friends right behind them.

"You put the cloak up there already?" Ginny asked again, making sure.

Harry nodded, "Earlier."

"Good luck." Hermione wished them as the Fat Lady swung closed.

"Good luck where?" The painted lady asked nosily. "Not on our way to trouble, are we?"

Rebecca offered a cavalier tone that was entirely false, "Us, ma'am?" Harry pulled her on her way and they walked through the empty halls side by side, silently--Their friends having gone as far as they could.

The Astronomy Tower was open along its ends, always a breeze blowing through. As Harry and Rebecca reached the last flight of stairs, Professor Snape's voice was carried by it.

"Have you ever considered that you ask too much, that you take too much for granted?" Rebecca pulled Harry this time, bringing his back against the wall next to her to listen to their conversation. "Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I don't want to do this anymore?" Snape's voice had the most emotion that either Potter had ever heard in it.

Dumbledore's voice responded a moment after, "Whether it has or hasn't is irrelevant. I will not negotiate with you, Severus. You agreed. Nothing more to discuss." Peering out around the corner, Rebecca jumped back as Snape flourished his robes and turned to exit. 

"You didn't think this through, did you?" Harry whispered.

"Shut up!" Rebecca whispered back, holding her head against the wall. Snape passed them and stopped in front of them, his eyes meeting Harry's before Rebecca's. In years to come, Rebecca would never fully be sure whether or not it was tears in the professor's eyes or a smudge on her glasses. Snape left them without a single word.

Harry and Rebecca stepped up the last few steps and emerged behind Dumbledore who turned at their arrival. "Harry! You need a shave my friend!" Rebecca glanced at the smattering of stubble on Harry's chin. Dumbledore turned to Rebecca, "At times, I forget how much you've grown." Dumbledore turned back to the view and Rebecca and Harry took either side of him. "I was there, you remember."

"You were 'there,' sir?" Harry asked.

"When I got to the Weasleys," Rebecca smiled sheepishly, "I vaguely remember asking if you were Molly's father."

Dumbledore chuckled, "That you did. I can still see the small girl from the tree house, as well as the small boy from the cupboard." Dumbledore shook his head, "Forgive my mawkishness, I'm an old man."

"Look the same to me, sir." Rebecca offered. 

Harry nodded, "Beard's only a little longer."

Dumbledore sniffed, "Just like your mother, unfailingly kind. But, with that, just like your father."

"How?" Rebecca asked.

"Far too agreeable. Both traits people never fail to undervalue, I'm afraid." Dumbledore stepped out from between them and paced in front of them as he got to business. "The place to which we are about to journey tonight is extremely dangerous. I promised you could accompany me, and I stand by that promise."

"But?" Rebecca looked at him, Dumbledore nodded.

"But there is one condition: You must obey every command I give you without question."

Harry agreed immediately, "Yes, sir."

Dumbledore looked at him a moment before looking at Rebecca, "You do understand what I'm asking you both? Should I tell you to hide, you hide. Should I tell you to run, you run. Should I tell you to abandon me and save yourselves, you must do so."

Rebecca nodded her head, considering his demand and agreeing to it.

"I need your word, both of you."

"You have my word." Harry answered.

Rebecca took one moment longer and met Dumbledore's eyes once more, "You have my word."

Dumbledore's face remained blank and he held out his arms, "Take my arm."

"I thought you couldn't apparate within Hogwarts, only during lessons." Rebecca asked curiously.

The corner's of Dumbledore's mouth turned up in a slight grin. "Well, being me has its privileges." The feeling was instant, the sucking through a tube and popping sound that accompanied apparation-related travel. When their feet were on solid ground again, Rebecca found that the ground was not quite as solid as she would have hoped. 

Dumbledore had taken them to a rock that jutted out of a pounding, angry sea. Harry grabbed her arm immediately, holding her firmly at his side as he squinted out into the mist at the vast quantity of water they were surrounded by. "Grab onto my belt." Harry commanded, Dumbledore raising his arms as he lifted a walkway out of the water. "Do not let go, understand?"

Rebecca nodded, her heart too far up her throat to verbally answer. She had his belt in an iron grip and her body was pressed against his tightly. Harry followed Dumbledore's steps exactly, slowly and steadily crossing the dark ocean to the entrance of the trench like cave Dumbledore led them to.

It was dark inside, only slivers of light shining through from unseen cracks and crevices. Rebecca let go of Harry and nodded appreciatively, her thanks interrupted by Dumbledore speaking to no one in particular. "This is the place, oh yes. This place has known magic."

Dumbledore pulled a short, deadly looking knife out of the folds of his robe. He lifted his hand up and held it into the light. "Sir!" Rebecca spoke in shock as he cut himself.

"In order to gain passage, payment must be made. Payment intended to weaken any intruder." Harry stared at the knife's edge, how Dumbledore held it to the base of his index finger and made a thin slit across his palm. 

"You should have let one of us, sir." Harry said.

"Oh no, your blood's much more precious than mine." Dumbledore waved his hand over the entrance where he felt the pull of magic and the rocks crumbled away with a few seconds of sustained clattering. The headmaster raised his illuminated wand into the tunnel that appeared. "Voldemort will not have made it easy to discover his hiding place. He will have put certain defenses in position."

They walked in the tunnel for less than a minute, the going slow as they carefully tread over the oddly shaped rocks beneath them. At the end, the tunnel opened into a large cavern with water that pooled into the bottom like a lake. "Careful." Dumbledore held his hand out so Harry couldn't go any closer to the water. Dumbledore flung his wand forward, the light duplicating and soaring out over the water. 

Rebecca gasped as the light went on and on, finally circling and brightening in the distance at a small island. 

"There it is." Dumbledore stepped closer to the water. "The only question is how do we get there?" He held a hand up over the water that quickly began to bubble, his face contorted with concentration. Seconds later, an iron chain shot out of the water that he held out to the twins weakly. "If you would?" Rebecca grabbed the end of the chain and began to pull it onto land, Harry hopping to motion as well.

A boat rose out of the water as they pulled the chain, a boat with skulls adorning the bow and the lip of it frighteningly close to the water's edge. Dumbledore stepped in first, situating himself on the back before holding a hand out for whoever was next. Harry moved forward as Rebecca froze, putting one leg into the boat and keeping one on the rocky lip they entered from. "It'll be okay."

Rebecca looked at Harry a long moment, not sure what exactly she wanted to say. 'I'm sorry?' Perhaps, for such a stupid inability. 'It's not my fault' maybe? In the end, she said nothing and sat next to Harry without a word and only slightly trembling. Dumbledore held his wand up so that their immediate area was illuminated as the boat took off. 

Harry put his arm around Rebecca's shoulders and pushed her head to the side so that she turned into his chest. She closed her eyes and accepted his comfort, the shame she felt at being such a coward in front of Dumbledore burning through her.

When the boat reached the island a hellish wait later, Harry did the same as he had when the entered, he used his leg to keep the boat as close to land as he could and he held his hand out for Rebecca to take it. Dumbledore crouched over the uprising in the middle, staring into its depths.

"Do you think it's in there, sir?" Rebecca asked next to the basin that jutted out sharply, Harry turning in a slow circle to take in what was around them.

"Yes, I do." Dumbledore waved a hand over the liquid in the middle and then looked at the bowl shaped shell on the lip. "It has to be drunk. All of it, it has to be drunk." It sounded like this was just occuring to him as well. Dumbledore turned to Rebecca and Harry. "You remember the conditions on which I brought you with me? This potion might paralyze me. Might make me forget why I'm here. Might cause me so much pain I beg for relief. You are not to indulge these requests. It's your job to make sure I keep drinking this potion. Even if you have to force it down my throat. Understood?"

Rebecca looked over the edge at the massive amount of liquid. "Why can't we drink it, sir?"

"Because I am older, much cleverer, and much less valuable." Dumbledore picked up the bowl and raised it like a toast, "Your good health." Dumbledore raised the shell to his lips and drank deeply.

Rebecca and Harry stared intently, the effects taking hold in seconds. First his eyes darkened, then he began to shake. "Sir!" Rebecca shouted, reaching forward as Dumbledore fell to the ground. "Can you hear me?" Dumbledore only reached out for the potion again, making no indication he heard her. "Harry, fill it up!"

Harry ferried the shell between the basin and where Dumbledore had fallen, Rebecca pouring it into his mouth despite his groans. "No, don't." Dumbledore whispered, laying a hand on her arm.

"You have to keep drinking it, like you said. Remember?" Rebecca kept her voice steady though she felt like she was committing a crime. Harry brought her shell after shell.

"Stop. Make it stop." Dumbledore whispered.

"It will stop, you just have to keep drinking." Rebecca took the shell from Harry and poured another into his mouth.

Dumbledore threw his head up to the ceiling of the cave and screamed, "Kill me! Kill me!"

Harry took the shell from Rebecca's shaking hands and filled it, "I'll finish it if you can't."

Rebecca shook her head, "I can do it." She brought the shell to his lips and tilted his head back. Dumbledore wept openly, the tears tracing down his wrinkles and stopping at the top of his beard where they escaped sight.

Harry filled it and handed it to Rebecca who faced Dumbledore's crying with a pleading expression, "One more, sir. One more and then it's done, I promise. We'll do whatever you say, just one more." Harry begged as Dumbledore's face lightened and the last of the potion entered his mouth. His eyes looked a little clearer, too.

He smacked his lips before looking around, "Water, Rebecca. Water."

Rebecca smiled, "Water. I can get water." She ran past Harry, skidding to a stop at the basin. "You did it!" Harry watched as the light from Dumbledore's wand faded to black. Rebecca shoved the necklace at the bottom into her pocket and held her wand up, _"Aguamenti!"_ Putting the shell into the water she conjured, Rebecca found that the shell passed through it like air. "Harry?"

Dumbledore repeated himself in the background. "Water...water...water..."

Harry plucked the shell from her hands and gingerly climbed down the little island's edge to the water, holding his wand out to illuminate it the best he could. 

"Be careful." Rebecca warned, watching over his shoulder.

"Really? I thought I'd be stupid." Dumbledore's floating light dove into the water, plunging them farther into the shadows that their own wands could hardly brighten. Harry dipped the shell into the water, chuckling at his retort.

*******************************************

Cliffhanger? Oops.

I love you though!

<3


	17. CHAPTER 12

**"Really? I thought I'd be stupid."** Dumbledore's floating light dove into the water, plunging them farther into the shadows that their own wands could hardly brighten. Harry dipped the shell into the water, chuckling at his retort.

Rebecca practically jumped out of her skin as a roar burst out of the water and a hand grabbed Harry's wrist. Harry pulled back and scrambled up the rocks as Rebecca raised her wand into the air. _"Lumos maxima!"_ Her own light shot out of her wand and spread across the cavern, showing hundreds of bodies milling around the water.

The first to lay a hand on the island did so tentatively, its body resembling that of what was once a man. All the bodies still had on the clothes of the day they died, their faces slack-jawed and grey-eyed but human.

"Inferi, Rebecca!" Harry gasped, casting a hex at the one that climbed up towards Dumbledore.

"Harry!" Rebecca shouted, pointing at one of the bodies that moved about with the rest, "That's him!" Harry couldn't take his eyes off the inferi in front of him, the second he'd gotten rid of one another popped up in its place. Rebecca knocked off a line of them with a jinx that left her winded. "It's Regulus!"

Harry turned at that, his heart dropping as he found exactly who she was talking about. He was a miniature version of what Harry imagined Sirius looked like when he was younger. His cheek bones were starkly defined, his nose regal, his hair as dark as the blackness in the corners of the cavern. It was Regulus Black. He had died in the very cavern they were in now, this was where Wilhomena had failed to save him. "Focus, Rebecca!" 

The inferi were farther up the island now, only a few feet from Harry and Rebecca. Rebecca stopped attacking with her wand, throwing an elbow into the woman's body that had her arm and and fist into the man's in front of her. Harry, grabbed by the inferi as she was no longer able to fight, was yanked towards the water's edge. Harry realised with a sickening sense of horror that they were going to be dragged to the bottom of the water and that his sister, his sister who has already drowned once in her life, was going to do so again and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

The water was cold as ice around Rebecca's body, the hands of the inferi around her leaving bruises that no one would see on her body that would never be found. She clawed through the water, trying to get any leverage over those that dragged her and unable to. The sparse air she had in her lungs didn't last nearly as long as she had thought and, upon looking around, Rebecca found that the water was much deeper than it had appeared. Rebecca's vision began to get narrower as her oxygen ran out and a strange warmth seemed to flow through her. _"If this is dying,"_ Rebecca thought, _"It's not that bad."_

 _"No one is dying today, child."_ Rebecca's mind was pulled from the oxygen-lacking haze at the sound of Wilhomena's voice in her mind. _"I lost one of you to this evil already, I will not lose another."_

On the other side of the island, Harry looked up as a bright light illuminated above the water and took out the inferi behind him. Rebecca, now freed, struggled in the water. _"I have surpassed my limit,"_ Wilhomena's voice was already fading. _"You were right, I will not fail you. I am passing onto the world beyond reach, even yours. You will not need me, you have the power to do all that you will on your own."_ Rebecca's hands began to burn, the same power she felt weeks before in the Forbidden Forest returning. _"I wish you the luck of all the forest."_

Rebecca was shot out of the water, landing on the island dripping wet in a crumpled pile. Harry, also now free, swam up frantically knowing that he would not be able to save Rebecca if he did not get air. Upon surfacing, he was surprised to find that she would not need saving. She stood on the highest point of the island, her back to the basin. Her hands glowed like it had when she brought back the unicorn and when she brought back Cedric, her back towards him. 

The light Harry had seen from under the water was fire, it spread out across the top of the water and was swirled about in a circle as Rebecca moved a single hand above her head. Harry pulled himself out of the water and bent to the ground next to Dumbledore and threw the headmaster's arm over his shoulder, moving down to the boat. "WE HAVE TO GO!" Harry shouted over the din of the flames and the screams of the burning inferi. "REBECCA!"

She stopped spinning her hand above her head, instead holding it directly in front of her towards the path they needed to exit. The fire split into two, leaving enough room for the boat to pass through. Harry settled Dumbledore in before climbing back onto the island where Rebecca had her hands against her head. Harry reached for her and Rebecca jumped back, out of his reach. "Can't, have to calm down. Have to slow down. Put the dam back up. Back in the box. Can't fit in the box. Won't fit in-"

"I don't understand." Harry put his hands over Rebecca's on the side of her face, bringing her panic to a quieter repetition. Harry's hands hurt at the heat emanating off Rebecca, but he was too concerned by the fact that her eyes were wild and her breathing too quick. "We have to go!"

Rebecca closed her eyes. Harry looked around nervously as the intensity of the flames lessened. Harry held his breath and hoped this would work. If not, he was screwed. He took a hand off Rebecca's face and brought bent to the ground. Jumping back up before she could see what he was doing, he brought the rock down on her head.

*******************************************

Evening had long begun its slow descent over the castle. With the imminent storm approaching, Professor McGonagall walked the halls to hurry any wayward student back to their dormitories. "To your houses, no dawdling!"

Unbeknownst to her, one student was not on his way to his house nor his bed. No, Draco Malfoy was climbing the stairs to the Room of Requirement. 

*******************************************

Harry had dragged the unconscious Rebecca to the boat and tossed her in unceremoniously, there would be time for gentleness when they got out of the seventh hell they'd found themselves in. Dumbledore's mind continued to clear as the boat bobbed back to the other land mass where they'd entered. Before they stopped, Dumbledore reached out and grabbed one of her wrists.

"I didn't kill her!" Harry nearly shouted.

"I know, Harry." Dumbledore was calm and happy to not feel anything more than body heat. "She is cool enough to wake." Dumbledore tapped his wand to her forehead, her eyes opening quickly.

"You dirty bastard." Rebecca hissed as she brought her hand up to the lump Dumbledore surveyed. "I love you, Harry." Dumbledore tapped the end of his wand to the center of her pain, the lump fading and the ache ending. "Thank you, sir."

Dumbledore slumped back onto his seat, the boat only half way across the water. "What the hell was that?" Harry demanded. "With the fire and the hands and the heat. Explain."

"This isn't the time or place." Rebecca reached for her wand, "And, better yet, I cannot explain what I don't understand myself."

"Power." Dumbledore spoke softly before raising his voice so they both could hear him. "Power is rarely bestowed upon those who wish for it but, instead, those who can do the most with it. For good or bad, that is left to the decisions of the individual."

Harry stared at him, "So that's all fine? Oh yeah, I'll just carry around a nice rock. How about a bat? That would-"

"Stop, Harry." Rebecca eyed the water as the boat reached land again. "Take a breath and calm down." She felt as muted as she did after the forest, like she'd just played a particularly good quidditch match that had exercised her body and her brain.

Harry did as she said, stepping out first. Once Dumbledore was on land and the boat was empty, it sank back into the depths. Harry grabbed Rebecca tightly and pulled her into a hug that hurt, though she didn't say anything. 

Dumbledore quickly took a place between them, his weight supported by both of them as they tripped their way back to the rock Dumbledore cut his hand to provide entrance. The headmaster looked up quickly, "I can apparate here now, brace yourselves."

_Pop!  
_

The Astronomy Tower was in front of them again. "We need to get you to the Hospital Wing." Rebecca spoke first, "Let's go, sir."

Dumbledore stopped once they were one level below, the sound of a door echoing at the bottom of the tower, "No. One day, you will both understand. Until then, forgive me." Dumbledore paralysed them and grabbed conjured the invisibility cloak from its hiding spot he'd given them. He draped it over them tenderly before stumbling back towards the Astronomy Tower's top most observational floor. Harry's hand was permanently frozen around Rebecca's.

Rebecca's view was hindered by the planks of the observation deck, as well as the shadows cast in the darkness. Footsteps creaked directly above them. Above, Dumbledore stared at the intruder who had his wand raised in front of him kindly. "Good evening, Draco. What brings you here on this fine, spring evening?"

Rebecca remembered the last words Wilhomena had spoken to her the night she and Hermione went to the Woman-in-the-Wood. _"Beware the fall..."_ She was filled with fear, though for whom she wasn't sure.

"Who else was up here? I heard you talking."

"I often talk aloud to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful. Have you been whispering to yourself, Draco?" Draco stopped his circling, Dumbledore pausing as well. "Draco, you are no assassin."

"How do you know what I am? I've done things that would shock you."

"Like cursing Katie Bell and hoping that in return she would bear a cursed necklace to me? Like replacing a bottle of mead with one laced with poison? Forgive me Draco, but these are not the actions that fully encompass you."

Draco laughed cruelly, "Then what does?"

Dumbledore stared at Draco. "Donating the needed root to continue to make the pain-soothing salve in a reign of torture." 

_"The Sefrenda Root!"_ Rebecca thought. _"It appeared outside the portrait hole and saved so many of us. I didn't know that was Draco."_

Dumbledore continued, "Letting a young Hufflepuff go in the face of words that you cannot deny resonated within you-"

"That's enough!" Draco shouted, "Those were signs of weakness!"

Dumbledore shook his head, "Those were sings of strength."

"He trusts me!" Draco's voice cracked. "I was chosen!" He lifted up his sleeve and revealed the Dark Mark. Tears flowed freely down Rebecca's face at the sight that she couldn't even look away from. Harry felt no pleasure in being right, only heartache as the pain came off Rebecca in waves.

"Then I shall make it easy for you." Dumbledore raised his hands as Draco cast away the headmaster's wand. "Very good!" The door clanked again, Harry and Rebecca staring in horror as footsteps made their way into the top of the tower. "You're not alone. There are others." Dumbledore narrated. "How?"

Draco raised his wand higher, "The vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement. I've been mending it. I had to."

"Let me guess," Dumbledore said. "It has a sister. A twin."

"In Borgin and Burkes. They form a passage."

"Ingenious!" Dumbledore lowered his voice and spoke quickly. "Draco, years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. Please let me help you."

Draco was crying now, Rebecca could hear it in his voice and just barely see them fall down his face from where she and Harry watched frozen. "I don't want your help! Don't you understand? I have to do this. I don't have a choice." Draco sobbed, his wand still in front of him. "I have to kill you or he's going to kill me."

Dumbledore turned his head to the people entering. Harry breathed sharply, his mind screaming in rage at the sight of Bellatrix who spoke happily. "Well, look what we have here." Rebecca reacted similarly, though not at the sight of the woman who had tried to take away their godfather. No, the man next to her with a wolfish snarl and scars across his face sent her into a fury she couldn't act on. The monster who attacked children, who attacked Remus, was so close. Fenrir Greyback was so close to her and she couldn't make him pay. Bellatrix leaned over Draco's shoulder and laid a kiss on his cheek. "Well done, Draco."

Dumbledore didn't react to the new arrivals. "Good evening, Bellatrix. I think introductions are in order, don't you?"

"Love to, Albus." Bellatrix spoke cavalierly, yet theatrically. "But I'm afraid we're all on a bit of a tight schedule." She turned to Draco and hissed, "Do it!"

A moment passed, Draco not making any move. "He doesn't have the stomach, just like his father." Greyback's voice was so low it couldn't be classified as anything but a growl. The werewolf seemed more animal than man. "Let me finish him in my own way." Rebecca wasn't sure if Greyback meant Draco or Dumbledore.

"No! The Dark Lord was clear, the boy is to do it!" Bellatrix shouted. There was movement to the right of the invisible Harry and Rebecca, Snape creeping up to the sight. _"At last, someone to intervene!"_ Rebecca thought relieved. "Go on, Draco! Now!" Bellatrix shouted again.

Snape's voice rang out for all to hear, even the two he was unaware of. "No." The top of the Astronomy Tower froze. Bellatrix stared at Snape curiously, debating if disobeying Voldemort's order was worth the snake proving his alliance. Greyback glared at the interruption. Draco's eyes widened in relief. Dumbledore glanced down where Rebecca and Harry were, his eyes showing nothing for them to read.

"Severus." Dumbledore spoke, looking to the ex-Potions professor. "Please."

Snape waved his wand without another moment's thought. _"Avada kedavra."_ A flash of green light and Dumbledore was dead. The hit sent him stepping backwards, his lifeless body tipping over the rail of the Astronomy Tower and soaring through the air like the phoenixes Dumbledore identified with so deeply, though this time he did not fly. He fell.

Rebecca's breath caught in her throat and the two of them were released from the spell Dumbledore had cast on them. They stood moments longer, frozen in terror instead of magic. Bellatrix let out a terrible scream and cast a spell up into the sky before hurrying down the stairs with the rest of the Death Eaters, Draco, and Snape.

Harry and Rebecca grabbed each other, holding each other tightly. Being so close to the killing curse, it sent images from their parents murder to the front of their minds, the screams of their parents to their ears. When the door at the bottom of the tower clanked shut, they found themselves able to move apart. Rebecca grabbed her wand in one hand and Harry's hand in the other, tearing down the stairs.

Draco's sobs had quieted to a low weep, Bellatrix ignored him by kicking the glasses off one of the long tables in the Great Hall as Snape led the procession through corridors and the castle. The three aurors on the defencive squad were no match against Alecto Carrow, Snape, and Fenrir Greyback. All three went flying and the procession carried on. Draco stopped and turned back as Bellatrix screamed and held her hands out at the Great Hall. 

Wind pushed Draco's hair back as the destruction started at the far end and made its way to him, glass shattering, windows being destroyed, tables tipped over. Bellatrix pushed Draco back on his way as the last of the floating candles was extinguished. 

Rebecca and Harry broke from their run to an all out sprint as they realised where they were going: The Death Eaters had marched out of the castle and disappeared down the path to Hagrid's hut.

"Hagrid!" Bellatrix sang out loudly. "Hello?"

Harry, the first over the last hill, screamed out for their attention before they hurt the groundskeeper who had grown more important to Harry than even he knew. "Snape! He trusted you!"

Rebecca found that she had no more tears. Her overwhelming sense of loss was being overtaken by inequivocabile rage. Bellatrix raised her hand above her head and cheered as she ignited Hagrid's home into a blaze that enveloped the hut in seconds. Snape shoved Draco towards her, "Go on!"

Rebecca raised her wand, _"Incarcerous!"_ Snape blocked it lazily. "Fight back! Fight back, you coward!" Bellatrix sent her flying backwards, Harry stopping at her side and raising his wand at the two of them. The wind was knocked out of Rebecca's lungs entirely and she rolled onto her side to try and catch it, unable to scramble to her feet until she had done so.

"No!" Snape shouted, "They are for the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix stared at Snape before dancing off to be closer to the flames.

Rebecca took Harry's outstretched hand and climbed to her feet slowly. Harry raised his wand, ready to avenge their fallen headmaster. _"Sectumsempra!"_ Snape sent both of the sprawling back, Rebecca hearing a sickening crack come from her side as she hit the ground again.

Snape stalked towards them, his wand out and his robes flowing behind him. Harry had keeled into a ball, trying to fight away some of the pain that rolled through him. Rebecca was in a similar position, though she breathed as infrequently as possible to lessen the burning pain that spread out from her rib when she did so.

"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" Snape glanced at Rebecca before turning his attention back to Harry. "Yes. I'm the Half-Blood Prince." 

Rebecca spat a wad of blood out of her mouth, not entirely sure where it had come from since she didn't think she'd hit her lip. Her mind felt foggy. "Think you're royalty?" Rebecca coughed and winced, the force sending whatever was inside of her and broken farther out of place. "Nothi-Nothing but a greasy-"

"That will do." Snape kicked her wand out of her hand, Harry's already out of his reach. Snape waved his wand over her middle and Rebecca straightened in agony as her broken rib righted itself and the tear in her lung repaired itself. The pain increased to a blinding extent before fading to a dull throb. Snape walked away without another word, leaving Harry and Rebecca to writhe as the Dark Mark swam in the dark clouds about the castle. 

Rebecca was the first to get her feet under her and she and Harry stumbled back up to the castle, Rebecca muttering that there was still time. The students of Hogwarts were gathered in the courtyard beneath the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore lying peacefully in front of them. Rebecca pushed through the crowd and dropped to her knees roughly, holding a hand over his forehead and bowing her head. 

She reached out with her mind, vaguely recognising the consciousnesses of those behind her and of Harry next to her, but turning her focus onto the body in front of her. There was still a wisp and she grabbed it tightly. _"Professor! You have to focus! You have to remember what you have to come back to!"_

She couldn't see it, exactly, but she could hear the smile in his last words. _"No, my dear. I cannot. My life has been lived and you both are equipped for your destiny. I have fought on too long and lost too much, I-"_ His voice faded out for a moment before returning weakly. _"Do not forget what I said about power, Rebecca. It is given to those who will do the most with it, good or evil is up to each of us."_

Rebecca cried out as Dumbledore was truly gone, gone to wherever the souls continued out of her reach. Harry pulled her into his shoulder, her hand leaving Dumbledore's forehead. They wept, as did the students around them. Hermione and Ron stepped out of the crowd and laid their hands on Rebecca's shaking shoulders as Harry buried his face into Ginny's open arms. 

Behind them, Hogwarts experienced its first, true loss at the hands of Voldemort. McGonagall raised her wand, her eyes misty at the loss of her friend. A bead of light appeared on the face of the Dark Mark. Madam Pomfrey followed suit, another light joining McGonagall's in the sky. Students of every year, of every house, of every age raised their wands. No one knew what spell they were casting, they were channeling their grief through their wands.

Hermione pulled them to their feet and was the first of the group to hold her wand up, tears streaming down her face. Ron took a shuddering breath and joined her, Ginny after her. Rebecca caught Harry's eyes and raised hers without breaking their gaze, her eyes burning through the tears with a fury. Harry hoped that she saw he felt her anger and her pain as the light of the students and professors pushed the Dark Mark out of the sky, the only cloud hanging over the castle now one of grief.

Rebecca felt the necklace in her pocket as she stared up, it was the only thing that could have brought her attention away from the sky. She pulled it out of her pocket and felt something sharp on the back. 

_R.A.B._

Rebecca knew the initials enough, she'd seen them in Regulus' journal often enough. But, it occurred to her, if he'd managed to mark this necklace. Rebecca found that her tears took on another meaning. Regulus' diary entries had cut off so abruptly not because he died retrieving the horcrux. He died replacing the one he's stolen with this copy.

Harry and Rebecca turned to the screaming coming from outside the castle's gate, the Order had arrived and battled with the Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest. Remus had a limp, red-haired body in his arms and Rebecca lifted it as she fell into step beside him. "Bill!" Bill had deep, fiercely bleeding wounds across his face and nose.

Remus shook his head, "It was Greyback, he jumped between us." Remus shook Bill roughly, still running with him. "Stupid boy! You are a stupid, stupid boy!"

"That's enough, Remus." Madam Pomfrey cleared a path through the crowd and their reunification was moved into the corridors as they trailed the healer. Remus was fine and he assured anyone who would listen that Bill would be to. He hadn't been attacked on the night of the full moon. He'd only scar.

Molly and Arthur weren't there, though Tonks was. "They've been ordered to stay back." Tonks whispered before stepping aside so that Sirius could embrace his godchildren. 

Sirius stopped in his tracks and held them both tightly, the three of them falling apart momentarily before picking the pieces up to continue onto the Hospital Wing. "He was here, Fred. He and George ducked off somewhere." Sirius shook his head, "Said something about knowing you would have gone off somewhere too, shows what they know?" The joke didn't garner any results, though Sirius hadn't expected any.

Rebecca left Hermione and Ron at Harry's side, Fleur tearing into the Wing shouting for Bill. In the corridor, Rebecca let her feet lead her as she began to run again. She didn't know how, but she knew exactly where they were. Rebecca skidded to a stop at the entrance to the Great Hall, Fred and George's back to her as they stared at the destruction in shock.

"I-We-" Fred stopped whatever he was going to say and put his arms under hers, lifting her as he enveloped her. "I thought you would be here." Fred whispered, "I don't know why."

Rebecca didn't say anything, only focusing on Fred. George pulled his wand out and held it in front of him, as did Fred and Rebecca when they stood next to each other once more. George's hand shook and Rebecca reached out and grabbed his shoulder before all three cast the repairing charm in unison. They hoped it would be enough for the level of damage the Great Hall had sustained.

_"Reparo!"_

The glass skittered along the ground, the tables righted themselves, the windows pieced themselves together. The candles stayed unlit, though. The castle would need its own time to grieve. Fred sat on a bench and put Rebecca on his lap, cradling her closely.

*******************************************

The castle, upon announcing to the parents the murder of Dumbledore, had ended the year early. The students would remain at Hogwarts for two days, the next being the funeral. Rebecca, Fred, and George were thanked personally by a teary McGonagall on their way back to the Hospital Wing where Molly and Arthur had been given permission to go for Bill. Molly and Fleur had been tense with each other for hours, but right before the students had to return to the dormitories it boiled over.

"You're not going to marry him now!" Molly shouted, "Just say so and leave!"

Fleur stood up and considered her words carefully, having to translate her anger to English. "Why would I not marry him now? You think I am too shallow to love someone with scars?"

"That's exactly what I think!" Molly shouted. Bill's eyes had fluttered open at the raised voices. 

"I AM PRETTY ENOUGH FOR US BOTH, NO?" Fleur gestured to Bill's now awake face, "This? This does not change the man I love!"

Molly sat down in her chair and wept, the anger flowing out of both women instantly. Fleur walked around the bed and held Molly, both of them comforting each other as they cried. Bill tried to smile and winced, the movement stretching the cuts Madam Pomfrey had healed as much as possible. "So-" Fleur and Molly turned to him. "So all I had to do was be attacked for you two to like each other?"

Sirius and Remus were on the bed next to them, their backs to the exchange and a hushed conversation going between them. "I don't give a damn what you think, Remus!" Sirius hissed. 

Remus shook his head, "You're not thinking-"

"I don't have to think." Sirius grabbed Remus' chin and pulled him into a fierce kiss. "I love you, and I will not let you run away because you think you are dangerous." Remus closed his eyes, hearing the words. "I love you, Remus. I love all of you."

Remus nodded. "I love you."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were quickly joined on the bed they sat on with their backs against the wall behind them by Rebecca who insisted Fred and George greet Bill without her. "Tell him whatever brothers are supposed to tell him." Rebecca instructed, already having done her part to tell him that he didn't have to go out and get a scar bigger than hers. Bill had laughed at that and Rebecca had felt proud to have gotten one of the first laughs out of him.

Ron put his arm around her neck and traced a pattern on her knee absentmindedly. "You guys were alright, weren't you? Getting the horcrux?"

Harry shook his head, Rebecca already having told him that it had all been for a fake. "No, we still need five more and..." Harry purposely avoided all of their eyes. "And we need to go find them."

Rebecca nodded once, "Yes, we do."

Hermione sighed, "After the summer then, we'll need time to prepare."

"We?" Rebecca asked carefully.

Ron grabbed Harry's arm, tightening his grip on Rebecca. "We."

And so it was decided right there in the Hospital Wing. The four of them were going to spend as long as they could get away with researching, preparing, gathering supplies, and making arrangements before they were going to start a hunt for the last bits of Voldemort's soul.

"Do you understand?" Rebecca asked in bed late that night, Fred having snuck up with her, Ginny, and Hermione that evening in the rush of students. "Do you see why I have to go?"

Fred closed his eyes to hide the tears that threatened to spill over and pulled her tighter, her head resting against his chest and listening to the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart. "Of course I do. You're a hero, you're going to go off and risk yourself for the world--It's what you do." Rebecca pulled her head back and looked up at him, his eyes turning to meet hers with a fire that burned behind them revealing just how serious he was. "But if that's what makes you a hero then I'm the villain. Rebecca, I will risk the world for you. Do you understand that?"

"What did I do to deserve you?" Rebecca whispered before kissing him gently.

"Must have been something really bloody good." Fred answered as he pulled the blanket higher up over them.

*******************************************

Sneaking away from the madness that was the castle was easier than Rebecca had thought. Harry was withdrawn to the point that Hermione and Ron were afraid to leave his side and Fred and George were kicked out of the castle to wait until the other attendees of Dumbledore's service were allowed in.

Finding her way to Dumbledore's office was a walk in the park, especially after how many times she and Harry had walked the path that year. She entered warily, fully expecting Dumbledore to pop out from a corner and tell her he was back. She crossed the room without a purpose, her eyes tracing over the details of the headmaster's space with a sense of finality that was new to her. 

_"If Dumbledore can die,"_ One thought in particular haunted her. _"Dumbledore of all people1 Then so can I. So can anyone. No one is spared."_

Rebecca stopped behind his desk and let a half-laugh, half-choked-sob at the sight of the bowl of sweets still out from their last memory meeting. McGonagall's voice spoke from the entrance of his office. "Rebecca," Rebecca turned and jumped, reaching for her wand before realising who it was. McGonagall noticed sadly. "In light of what has happened, if you should have the need to talk to someone..." Rebecca shook her head and walked away from his desk, not wanting to talk about this. Unable to talk about this. Passing her head of house, McGonagall spoke again. "You should know, Professor Dumbledore-You meant a great deal to him. Harry, too. But you...You were his greatest loss. You disappearing from the rubble that night, he searched high and low. Had he found you..."

"What?" Rebecca asked. "What would he have done?"

McGonagall stared at her, "He would have taken you away from that-"

"From the man that beat me and put me where? Here? So he could tell us," Rebecca's voice lost its edge and for a moment McGonagall saw her for the girl she really was, not the adult she felt she had to be. "So he could tell us as-as little as he wanted and we could not know what we were supposed to do and-"

McGonagall silenced her with a motherly caress of her cheek. Rebecca didn't have to say anymore, McGonagall was making it clear that she would listen when Rebecca was ready. Rebecca, once more listening to her feet, ended up back at the Astronomy Tower where Harry and Hermione were standing at the rail, Ron back in the Hospital Wing to be with Bill.

Hermione had just clarified who she was talking about when Rebecca joined them. "Draco?"

"What would?" Rebecca asked.

Hermione looked up shocked to see her, expecting that she would have ended up in the Hospital Wing when Rebecca had turned up from wherever she had gone to. "Do you think he would have done it?"

Harry answered, he was the one who had been asked originally. "No. I don't think he would have. He was lowering his wand. It was Snape, in the end. It was always Snape." Rebecca took the necklace that Harry pushed into her hands. "And now we have a fake necklace."

Hermione took it from her and held it to the light before pushing a small button neither of them had noticed. The necklace swung open and a small folded paper was inside. Rebecca stared in shock as Hermione unfolded it and looked for permission to read it aloud. Harry nodded quickly, eagerly.

"To the Dark Lord," Hermione began. "I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match..."

"...you will be mortal once more." Sirius read from the note Rebecca and Harry gave him before the funeral started that afternoon. "R.A.B." Sirius choked back a sob and grabbed Remus arm to steady himself with. "My baby brother fought against Voldemort."

Rebecca felt a hand grab her shoulder tightly, a hand whose fingers snaked across her collarbone tenderly. "It's time, I'm sorry." Fred apologised, not certain what he was interrupting. 

Rebecca shook her head, "That's not all." She pulled out the leather bound book. "His journals. I've learnt all I can from them, they're yours now."

Sirius held them like he was holding something that would break if he brushed it the wrong way. Remus nodded to Harry and Rebecca, thanking him as his partner was unable to at the moment. Fred and Rebecca stared up at the levitated body as speakers began to share what made Dumbledore so special, such an intricate part of their school.

Nigel climbed the steps to the podium in one of the last pauses before the end of the funeral, his hands shaking as he held a paper in front of him. "I know that this is unusual," he began nervously, taking a moment to look over the crowd. Rebecca caught his eyes and gave him all the comfort he needed to begin again confidently. "I know that this is unusual, but Professor Dumbledore loved a good mickey." Sparse laughter echoed through the crowd and Nigel ate it up. "Really, I'm serious. He would ask me to bring him some of my Skiving Snackboxes sometimes."

Fred and George ignored the gazes that turned to them.

Nigel took a shuddery breath, his humour gone. "And that's why I've brought one more for him." Nigel took out the green and purple treat, the Puking Pastille. "One last Puking Pastille." Nigel turned and straightened his shoulders before tucking it under the edge of Dumbledore's beard. "One more for a man that will live on forever."

McGonagall put her arm around Nigel and stood with her back to the crowd a moment before motioning him back to his seat and walking to Dumbledore's head. She brought her wand out and held it over his head, stone collecting and closing the tomb to which she built around him. It was slate grey and ornately carved along rim like the wrists of Dumbledore's favourite robes were.

"Albus would be proud to know that his loss is felt so celebratorily." McGonagall address the crowd before dismissing them. "Do not mourn, but remember the good."

Those still sitting stood and those standing began to file out of their rows. George turned to Cedric on his side and spoke quietly while Fred tilted Rebecca's chin up to him. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears that had left wet track marks down her cheeks and shook his head. "Remember the good, you heard her."

Rebecca sniffed and nodded, "You're right."

Fred kissed her forehead. "I know."

*******************************************

Author's Note:

Aw geez, I'd love to say that I didn't cry while writing this but I'm not a liar.

<3


	18. CHAPTER 13

**Rebecca sat downstairs in the Burrow** like she did every morning, her ear tilted towards the radio Arthur had put together enough to catch the Wizarding News. Arthur spent more hours out in his workshop than not, always tinkering with a radio in one form or another. The Order had tasked him with making it so that there was a network for communication and he took his job seriously.

"These are dark times, there is no denying. Our world has, perhaps, faced no greater threat than it does today. But I say this to our citizenry--We, ever your servants, will continue to defend your liberty and repel the forces that seek to take it from you. Your Ministry remains...strong!" Rufus Scrimgeour, Fudge's replacement as Minister of Magic, continued to spew propaganda about the strength of the Ministry's handle on things as more and more muggle families were murdered each week.

Rebecca slammed the radio off, cursing the Ministry, cursing the lies, cursing like a sailor. 

"Rebecca!" Molly scolded in surprise as she entered the kitchen with a purpose. Wedding planning doesn't happen overnight and she needed paper to make lists. 

"Sorry." Rebecca muttered. She was going stir crazy. Hermione wasn't set to join them for another week, the shop had been forced to shut down before she even had a chance to see it again, the news was the same shite it was everyday. There was a lot to curse. Molly grabbed the pad of paper she'd left in their earlier and watched as Rebecca retreated up the stairs.

Rebecca knew exactly where she was going to go: Fred's bed. Each of the four planning on hunting was making their own goodbyes and for her, she and Fred took any moment they could to be with one another. 

*******************************************

One week later, Hermione would make her goodbye. She stood in her bedroom and looked over the pictures she'd hung up, her books on her shelves, the bag she had packed on her bed.

"Hermione! Tea's ready, darling!" Hermione's mum's voice carried through their rowhouse. Hermione shouldered her bag and grabbed the last thing she wanted to bring with her and stuck it on top before leaving her room and going down stairs. Hermione's hand gripped her wand tightly, her parents' back to her. _"Obliviate."_

Just like that, Hermione took the memories of her from her parents and locked them away. Only to be unlocked if they succeeded and the world returned to the way it was. If the world came to an end or, Hermione refused to put the possibility off the table, Hermione died, her parents would not spend their lives mourning. 

_"Mercy."_ Hermione thought as she stepped out of her house. _"This was mercy."_

*******************************************

"Hurry up, Dudley!" Vernon shouted in the house as Dudley puttered around the doorway. They were racing to fill the car, not willing to spend another day in the same house as Harry even if Rebecca wasn't there. 

"I don't understand why we have to leave!" Dudley shouted back, holding the bag over his head like it was nothing. Dudley had tapered out, he'd discovered a fondness for long distance running that year at Smeltings and it had given him an outlet and the opportunity to find himself in the best shape he'd ever been in. 

"Because it's not safe for us any more!" Vernon made it clear he wouldn't take any more questions on the subject. 

"He's not coming with us, how dangerous can it be?" Dudley pointed back to the house.

Petunia eyed Harry's window warily, "You have no idea."

Harry turned back from his window to where Rebecca sat on his desk chair, chatting to Hedwig unintelligibly. "I don't even know why you want to say goodbye." Harry said again. "They don't even-"

"Like me?" Rebecca finished. "I know. But they're the only blood relatives we'll ever have and, worst case," Rebecca gave him a cheeky grin. "It'll terrify them to know that I've been up here all day."

Harry shook his head and chuckled, putting his hands behind his head. "Don't know why I have to stay here longer."

"Yes, you do." Rebecca, as Vernon didn't want to hear any more from Dudley, didn't want to hear more griping from Harry. "I'm running downstairs, I'm starved. Think they've left anything?" Harry watched her go before following after her a moment later, hungry himself. 

Harry stopped at the bottom of the stairs, Rebecca standing in the doorway to the unfurnished living room while Petunia spoke solemnly, not entirely surprised that Rebecca was there. "I have lived in this house for twenty years. And now, now I'm expected to leave."

"You can stay." Rebecca crossed her arms and leaned against the door jam. "They'll torture you if they think for even a moment that you might know where we're going, but you could stay."

Petunia spoke again. "Do you think I don't know what they're capable of? You two didn't just lose a mother that night in Godric's Hollow, you know. I lost a sister." Rebecca watched as Petunia scrounged around in her purse, pulling out an envelope that was sealed tightly. "You both find us when you're done. You find us and we'll talk. I-"

Rebecca held the envelope shocked, "But-"

"And bring that boy." Petunia shook her head, "Something about Potters and red hair." Petunia filed out of the house, nodding her head to Harry in the hallway before going out to the packed car.

"What was that?" Harry whispered, Rebecca tucking the envelope into her back pocket.

"I have no idea." She whispered back, Dudley looking up as two sets of footsteps made their way to the curb.

Dudley did something strange when he saw Rebecca, something that she and Harry would agree to never talk about, Dudley smiled. "So they are coming with us?"

"They?" Vernon asked, his back turned to the house and blissfully unaware at the surprise appearance.

"Harry and Rebec-"

"What!" Vernon hissed, whirling around. "What are you doing here?"

Rebecca offered him a small wave, still looking to Dudley, "Surprise?"

Vernon muttered darkly, "They are not coming with us." Dudley stood, refusing to get into the car. 

It was Harry's turn to do something that would shock them all. "It's alright, really." Harry snorted darkly, "I'm just a waste of space, aren't I Vernon?"

"Let's go Dudley." Vernon glowered at the comment, but turned back to the car. Dudley slammed his door shut and walked back to the house, staring up at it.

"I was a right little prick, wasn't I?" Dudley spoke softly.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, a bit."

"Oh I won't lie, I hardly knew you and you were a terror." Rebecca spoke honestly, still finding that a small smile played on Dudley's face.

"Then you'll come back when you're done...whatever it is you two are doing. You'll come back so that I can prove I'm not anymore." Dudley held his hand out to Rebecca and looked at her in all seriousness. "Both of you. I still owe you for saving me in the tunnel." Rebecca grabbed Dudley's hand and shook it. 

Dudley stared into Harry's eyes. "And I don't think you're a waste of space."

Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he said what he thought Rebecca would have. "Thanks." Dudley walked back to the car after that, looking back at them a few times concerned. "See ya, Big D." Harry said to himself, though Rebecca grabbed his arm so that he knew she was there for him.

Vernon couldn't fight the grin off his face in the driver's seat, "This isn't just goodbye to the nightmare, is it? No, it's farewell!" A single tear escaped Petunia's eye and she let it fall without shame.

Rebecca looked around the empty house once they were back inside and turned to Harry. "You sure you'll be alright alone a few hours? I can stay-"

"Go." Harry pulled her into a tight hug. "Wedding's tomorrow. We're going to be busy and you should...spend your time as you will."

"Yeah, I get it." Rebecca was blushing as she stepped away. "I'll tell Fred you said hi."

"Did I?" Harry asked before she moved to apparate back to the Burrow. "You're not coming tonight, are you?"

"Are you really asking me?" Rebecca winked at him, "See you in a few hours."

"You're not supposed to do magic yet!" Harry called worried.

"What're they going to do?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Expel me?" She apparated without another second to waste.

*******************************************

Malfoy Manor was a constant cacophony of screams. They haunted Draco, they seeped into his bedroom and lingered in his head long after they ended. Draco knew who was being tortured, it was Professor Burbage from Hogwarts.

The Muggle Studies Professor.

There was a harsh pounding on his door and it was thrown open with a force that was wholly unnecessary. Bellatrix stormed in and grabbed Draco by the back of his neck, "Come, little Draco. It's time for dinner."

She only released him when he was thrown into his seat. Voldemort regarded the boy disdainfully, though Severus' arrival took his attention. "I was beginning to think you had lost your way. Come, we've saved you a seat." Draco looked up and down the table, there had to be more than fifteen Death Eaters on either side, Snape sitting at Voldemort's end of the table. "You bring news, I trust."

Snape nodded, "It will happen Saturday next, at nightfall."

Yaxley, a Death Eater with a penchant for the finer arts of torture, spoke. "I've heard differently, my lord. An auror let slip that they've moved plans to tonight, the night before the Potter boy and girl turn seventeen."

Snape spoke loudly, exuding dominance. "This is a false trail. The auror office no longer plays any part in the protection of the Potter twins. Those who are closest to them believe we have infiltrated the Ministry."

Fenrir barked in laughter closer to Draco. "They got that right, haven't they?" The table was littered with cruel laughter.

"Where will the boy be taken?" Voldemort didn't laugh. "To the muggle-loving slum with the girl?"

Snape answered without addressing Voldemort's comment. "To a safe house, most likely the home of someone in the Order. I'm told it's been given every manner of protection possible. Once there, it will be impractical to attack them."

Bellatrix cleared her throat daintily, "My lord, I'd like to volunteer myself for this task. I want to kill the girl."

A scream echoed through the house. Voldemort's head shot to the servant at the doorway. "WORMTAIL!" Peter Pettigrew scurried forward. "Have I not spoken to you about keeping our guest quiet?"

"Y-yes, my lord. Right away!" Peter ran off towards the dungeons.

Voldemort focused on Bellatrix again. "As inspiring as I find your bloodlust, Bellatrix, the girl is not to be killed. Not yet."

"My lord?" Bellatrix breathed.

"I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, but Rebecca could prove yet more useful." Bellatrix bowed her head, avoiding Voldemort's gaze as the Dark Lord stood and began to circle around the table. "I face an unfortunate complication. My wand and the boy's share the same core. They are, in some ways, twins." The irony was not lost on Draco, but he found no humour in it. "We can wound but not fatally harm one another. If I am to kill him, I must do it with another's wand."

Draco's heart beat quickly in his chest as Voldemort began to make his way towards the Malfoys. 

"Surely one of you would like the honour?" Voldemort stopped behind Lucius. "What about you, Lucius?"

Lucius whimpered, "My lord?"

Voldemort sneered at him and mocked his tone, _"My lord?_ I require your wand." Voldemort's hand reached out, its palm in front of Lucius' face. Lucius unsheathed his wand from his cane and handed it over with shaking hands, staring at the transferring of his wand in horror. "Do I detect elm?"

"Yes, my lord." 

Voldemort held the decorative snake's end in one hand and the bulk of the wand in the other, a snap echoing through the dining hall as he snapped it off. "And the core?"

Lucius felt nauseous at seeing his wand defiled at it was, but answered. "Dr-Dragon heartstring, my lord." Voldemort threw the snake figure onto the table and held the wand out to Professor Burbage.

"To those unaware, we are joined tonight by Charity Burbage. Miss Burbage, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her speciality being Muggle Studies." Titters of laughter rose in the room. "It is Miss Burbage's belief that muggles...are not so different from us." The laughter silenced at such blasphemy. "She would, given her way, have us mate with them."

Boos and cries of disgust rose.

"To her, the mixture of magical and muggle blood is not an abomination, but something to be encouraged."

Charity reached the halfway point of the table, her levitated body seeing Severus. "S-Severus, please." Charity's body hurt in away that could never be remedied, she did not expect to be saved. She wanted mercy. "We're friends-"

Voldemort raised his new wand and flourished it expertly, _"Avada kedavra!"_

Draco's heart jumped into his throat and he couldn't help the gasp that escaped him as his ex-professor fell to the table dead. Tears still streaming down her face where they collected onto the table. 

Voldemort raised his hand to pet the snake that never seemed to leave his side, "Nagini, dinner."

Draco closed his eyes as the crunching of bones filled the room.

*******************************************

Fred tied his shoes in he and Rebecca's bedroom, not looking at the laces to watch as she buttoned up her shirt. They hadn't made well on their agreement from Valentine's day, there was never enough privacy or time, but they had managed to sneak in heavy-enough snog sessions that left that satiated for intimacy. "You're staring again."

"I can't help it." Fred whinged, standing and wrapping his arms around her and resting his hands on her hips. "You demand my full attention." He lowered his lips to the crook of her neck and held them there, Rebecca ignoring him.

"It's time to go, the Order waits for no one." Rebecca left the top most button undone and turned so that she faced Fred's chest. "Fred..."

"Alright." Fred sighed and snaked a hand up her back and looked at the back of her head in the mirror on their dresser. Cedric had defected from his family, refusing to hide in America as George fought with the Order. Fred and George's old room became George and Cedric's while the attic had been cleared out for Fred and Rebecca. Ginny, happy at Hermione's arrival days earlier, found that she hadn't minded having a roommate and wasn't looking forward to having it all to herself. "I love you." Fred whispered.

Rebecca nodded and stepped away from Fred, catching his hand and entwining her fingers through his. "I love you, too."

Back in Surrey, Harry was shoving the last of the things he thought he'd need into his bag and listening to Hedwig's happy hoots and chirps. She could almost sense that things were going to change soon and it filled the owl with excitement. Harry considered the newspaper with Dumbledore's obituary and stuck it in his backpack as well. He carried Hedwig's cage and trotted down the stairs, setting his belongings in the empty living room before turning back and looking at the door to his childhood: The door to the cupboard under the stairs.

It swung open with a familiar squeak and Harry pulled the chain so that the light hanging from the slanted roof turned on. He stared at the toys on the little shelf and was glad for a moment that Rebecca wasn't there so that he could cry freely as he held the little horse he spent hours pretending would storm the house and take him away. He cried for the loss of his innocence, he cried because part of him wished that he was still just the hungry little boy whose family hated him, he wished that he could have just had a regular life.

And then he wiped his face and put the toy down, his grieving over for the moment. Similarly to what Rebecca had told him weeks earlier, before they planned the trip they were embarking on shortly, if anything had changed about their youth they might not have found each other. Harry wouldn't risk that for anything. He had a sister now, he had a family now. Of course Sirius and Remus played a role in that, but when Harry thought of the word family, Rebecca was at the front of it all.

When the motorcycle engine cut outside, Harry stood up from the carpeted floor and opened it with his wand in front of him. "Would you put that thing down and let us in?" Rebecca whacked his arm and piled in, Hagrid and Ron right behind her. 

"It's good to see you, Harry!" Hagrid boomed before Hermione wedged her way through the doorway and hugged Harry after Ron let go of him.

Quite a crowd had formed on the front lawn and Mad-Eye Moody pushed his way through them all, "Why don't we get a move on inside before someone murders the two of 'em?" He growled.

"Evening, Professor." Harry wished as the auror passed him.

Arthur greeted Harry warmly and followed Harry and Rebecca to the emptied living room. Mad-Eye Moody set down a large bag and stomped around while everyone took their places. "Kingsley!" Harry called, "I thought you were looking after the Prime Minister."

"No, Harry." Kingsley's voice was deep and serious. "You two are more important."

Bill and Fleur came in next, Bill holding his hand out for a shake in case Harry didn't want a hug. Harry shook his head and wrapped his arms around the eldest Weasley. Bill had found that certain aspects of his mannerisms had to change after the Fenrir attack. The scars that he'd been left with left people wary at close contact even though there was no way he could transmit lycanthropy. 

Fred and George slunk in, Cedric between them. Fred gave Rebecca a wink, "Careful Harry, you'll catch the ugly off him."

Rebecca laughed, it had been a running joke between Fred and Bill about his new appearance. Bill appreciated this, everyone else seemed to tiptoe around it. Fleur whirled on Fred with a scowl before softening at Bill's face. "You are still 'andsome to me, William."

"At least someone else likes their steaks on the rawside now, right Bill?" Remus entered next, clapping a hand to Bill's shoulder. Rebecca and Harry enveloped him in a tight hug, both of them moving onto Sirius when Remus pried them off him. 

Mad-Eye Moody had gone to close the door and plowed through Sirius and Tonks, Tonks reached to pull his hair that he'd let grow even longer in his post-Azkaban life. "There'll be time for a cozy catch up later! We've got to get the hell out of here...and soon!" Kingsley and Arthur went to the windows, casting them to not be able to be looked through. "You two, underage. You've still got the trace."

"The trace?" Rebecca asked quickly.

"If you sneeze, the Ministry will know who wipes your nose."

"So, say one was to have apparated...twice..."

Moody glared at her, his blue eye spinning madly. "We will be using means of transport the trace can't detect. Brooms, thestrals, the like. We're going in trios." Moody surveyed the room. "If anyone's out there waiting for us--and I reckon there will be--They won't know which twin is the real one."

This would be part of the details that had been kept from Harry and Rebecca, the finer aspects that left them curious. "The real one?" Harry cocked his head.

"I believe you're familiar with this particular brew?" Moody sloshed the flask he pulled out of his coat once. 

"Absolutely not!" Rebecca shook her head and leaned forward, closing the flask's top. "Not a chance."

"I told you they'd take it well." George laughed.

Fred stepped forward, "It's been decided, Rebecca. It's the best way to move you two safely."

"At what risk?" Rebecca turned around. "How can we let you risk your lives for us-"

"Like we haven't before?" Ron stood with a hand on his hip. 

"This is different." Harry argued. "Taking that, becoming us, no!"

"None of us really fancy it." George was still evidently in a cheeky mood. "Imagine something goes wrong and Ginny tears our clothes off with her eyes for eternity." George shuddered.

"Everyone here is of age already," Moody spoke lowly. "They've all agreed to the risk." Moody nodded to Hermione and Ron, "As discussed."

Ron yanked the top of Harry's head while Hermione did Rebecca. "Blimey, Ron!" Harry hissed.

"Son of a-!" Rebecca jumped out of reach, "A warning!"

Hermione dropped a few hairs into the flask that Moody had brought into one hand, Ron into the other. The potions fizzed audibly, the others around the room making two lines. Moody, now walking around the room, addressed them knowledgeably. "For those of you who haven't taken Polyjuice potion before, fair warning: It tastes like goblin piss."

Moody stopped in front of Fred and George, handing them each one of the flasks at random. "Do you have a lot of experiences with that, do you, Mad-Eye?" George tapped his flask to Fred's and watched in horror as Mad-Eye stared at him murderously. "Just trying to diffuse the tension."

Cedric had hardly put the flask to his lips when the effects to take over Fred and George. The first thing that happened to them both was Fred noticeably dropping lower than George. Rebecca buried her face in her hands, only looking up when Fred and George cackled. "Wow! We're identical!" Where Fred had been standing was a copy of Rebecca, a copy that gave her the half-grin she loved to see on him so much and looked strange on her face.

"Not yet, you're not." Moody dumped out the bag he'd brough, kicking the clothes into two haphazardly formed piles. "You two, too."

George lifted up one of the shirts disdainfully, "You haven't got anything sportier? Jumpers aren't really my thing."

"They're not mine, either." Harry grumbled as he watched the room start stripping. "That's hers."

"Give it." Fred snatched it from George's hands, ignoring how Cedric now a Harry copy dropped one of the shirts just like it. Fred pulled off the shirt he'd been wearing before hand and froze in the middle of the room, the others continuing to change around him. Fred reached a hand up and laid it on his undershirt clad chest, finding that it too was an exact copy of hers.

"Fred!" Rebecca hissed, her face burning in shame as Sirius and Remus turned their backs to the wall snickering to each other. They, Tonks, Kingsley, Hagrid, Bill, and Moody weren't transforming. "Keep your hands-Stop!"

Fred's hands shot to the ground and he pulled on a jumper at once, leaving on the undershirt he had been wearing even though he in this much smaller body swam in it. "Right, sorry."

Rebecca unbuttoned her own shirt and tossed it into the discard pile, finding her own partial nudity far less exposing than the bodies of her own that stared back at her. Fred gawked around the room, so many instances of Rebecca's skin showing.

Fleur's bra hung off the body of Harry she'd turned into loosely and she slipped it off, telling Bill to not look at her. "I am hideous!"

"Ouch," Rebecca tossed one of Harry's shirts at her roughly. "Hurtful much?"

Harry looked around the room, "It's alright, we can't all cause effects like-"

"Not another word, Harry." Rebecca interrupted, grabbing Fred's hand and staring at the copy of herself. 

Fred scrunched his eyebrow, staring at the original Rebecca. "If I kiss you is it mas-"

"That will do!" Remus clapped his hands and turned around, ignoring the fact that Fred was back to staring down at himself. "Glasses, make sure you have glasses!"

Sirius walked around the room with two handfuls. Hermione slid Rebecca's on and gasped, "Your eyesight really is terrible!"

"I don't wear them because I like them." Rebecca deadpanned. One of the Harry's snorted, but she couldn't tell if it was Cedric or George.

"Alright!" Moody stared out at the room of Rebecca's and Harry's. "We'll be partnering off now. A Harry and a Rebecca to each group." Moody warned Mundungus Fletcher to stay at his side. "As for Harry and Rebecca-"

"Yes?" The room answered.

Moody took a moment to calm himself, "The real Harry and Rebecca, where the devil are you?"

Harry raised his hand from back near Sirius who was teasing him relentlessly and Rebecca raised her hand next to the copies of herself she was fairly certain was Hermione, based on her posture, and Fred, based on his inability to stop staring at the other Rebecca's.

"You'll ride with Hagrid, in the side car." Moody winced, "A tight fit, but doable."

"Tight fit?" Ron asked as Harry. "I haven't been this short since fourth year!" Harry stared at Ron. "Sorry, mate."

Hagrid stepped forward and straightened Harry's collar. "I brought you here sixteen years ago. Seems fitting I'm the one to take you away. As for you," Hagrid turned to Rebecca and looked frighteningly close to tears, "I get to make it up to you."

"It's all very touching!" Moody bellowed, "Let's go!"

Harry stepped out of Number 4 Privet Drive the last time he ever would as a child, Hedwig sitting on his shoulder. Rebecca and Harry stepped to the side as the others filed back and Rebecca left a soft kiss on Hedwig's head before the snowy white owl flew up to watch the procession of groups climb into their rides. 

Moody was right about the sidecar. Harry took the seat and Rebecca wedged herself in at his feet, his arms around her middle like the seatbelt she wasn't wearing. She craned her neck to look behind the motorcycle, Harry's and Rebecca's side by side in a long row on brooms and thestrals, one Rebecca giving her a sly wink before Hagrid brought the motorcycle to life. 

Racing down the street, Rebecca couldn't help but grin as the motorcycle lifted off the ground and entered a steep climb, the wind whipping past them cooly. Rebecca was grateful that at least the copies of her were in a jumper so that they weren't cold. Moody rode his broom past them, the broom a type Rebecca had never seen before. It seemed to be modified so that Moody's missing leg didn't alter his flight path. 

Harry tightened his grip around Rebecca as Hagrid kept them on path, lightning streaking the sky in front of them. When they broke through the cloud layer, they entered a battlefield. Death Eaters were tearing through the sky on brooms of their own, sending curses and hexes at anything that moved, including themselves. Their shouts of confusion filled the air.

"He's on your right!"

"No, that's the girl! He's right there!"

Hagrid steered them along the edge of the battle, continuing without offering the others aid. "We have to turn back and help the others!" Harry shouted over the wind. Rebecca had her wand in hand and was trying to do whatever she could as the distance between they three and the fighting increased.

"Can't do that, Mad-Eye's orders!" Hagrid hit the blue light that illuminated on the center console of the bike. Fire shot out the back and propelled them on even faster, fire that attracted attention. Three Death Eaters followed them close behind, sending hexes and curses their way. Hagrid looked over his shoulder and steered them lower, landing roughly onto a highway. The Death Eaters continued to try and hit them with the spells they were sending as they dodged taller cars.

Harry shoved Rebecca down, a curse whizzing by her head with inches to spare, before turning back. _"Stupefy!"_ One Death Eater hit the ground and went rolling, taking out the back tire to a trailer that turned over and blocked the path of the motorcycle entirely. Hagrid wrenched the handlebar to the side and sent them careening into oncoming traffic that led them directly into a tunnel.

Two buses formed a wall in front of them making no way for the bike to get through. Hagrid lifted one of his large feet off the pegs, "Hold on!" Holding his foot on the ground and creating a shower of sparks, Hagrid sent them up onto the roof of the tunnel. Harry, wedged into place by Rebecca at his legs, realised that if she wasn't there he would have fallen or dangled freely. The Death Eater behind them hit Hagrid with whatever they had been sending just as they were rightside up and Hagrid slumped unconscious.

"Hagrid!" Rebecca shouted. Harry wasn't able to move while she was at his feet and she jumped into action. Prying herself out from underneath the windshield's metal lip that she could already feel bruised her back, she swung a leg over the middle and grabbed the handlebars over Hagrid's hands. Rebecca had never driven a motorcycle, she'd never even driven a car, but as the headlights of oncoming traffic grew brighter, she pulled up with all the strength she had and found that the motorcycle responded as she needed it to by putting them back on course up to the sky.

The Death Eater still in pursuit followed close behind them, abandoning the constant spell casting to lean farther onto their broomstick to lessen the distance. Harry was trying to hit their pursuer with something that would give them enough distance, but the Death Eater blocked his every attempt. A shrill cry echoed through the air and a white blur past the motorcycle. Rebecca steeled herself and tried to keep the motorcycle on what she imagined was on course while Harry watched in horror.

Hedwig attacked the Death Eater's eyes first, flying back to circle and do it again. The Death Eater, now vision impaired as the owl had succeeded in tearing one of his eyes, went back to fly alongside her owners. The Death Eater raised his wand and sent one last curse through the air, the killing curse.

The green light struck Hedwig's chest and sent the beautiful bird spiralling through the air to the ground below. "No!" Rebecca cried out, turning the motorcycle to the ground to get her, to bring her back.

"We can't." Harry grabbed her wrist, "If we stop, they will find us. If we stop, she died for nothing."

Rebecca lifted the motorcycle back up without a word, her heart shattered into pieces. Their mourning was cut short as a familiar, bald face appeared at the head of a shadowy apparation trail beside them. Harry stood in the sidecar and cast a spell of Rebecca's head, Voldemort doing the same. The stream of their magic met in the middle, red clashing with green and sending sparks in all directions. Rebecca took her wand out and added to Harry's power, the loss of Hedwig fueling them both. Grief was one of the most powerful forces to fuel a person. Voldemort's side of the spell was overtaken quickly, the magic coursing up through the wand he held and shattering.

The blue light Hagrid had hit earlier illuminated again and Rebecca hit it quickly, sending them off faster than before as Voldemort screamed into the night and sent out a shockwave of magic that tore the powerlines down in a shower of arcing electricity.

*******************************************

Author's Note:

Cliffhanger again? 

<3


	19. CHAPTER 14

**"Do you know where you're going?"** Harry asked after they'd flown through the sky a few minutes.

Rebecca put her head to her shoulder and wiped her face, tears falling from the wind that chilled her face and from the loss. "Vaguely."

Harry had sat back in the sidecar, his knees up to his chest. "She-"

"I can't, Harry." Rebecca's chest quivered. "Not now."

Harry sat in silence. The motorcycle dropped in the air like a stone before sputtering back to life weakly. Hagrid jerked up, shaking the grogginess from him and lifting Rebecca onto Harry easily. He kicked the bike to a higher power and looked at the gauges that meant nothing to Rebecca and turned them slightly to the right. The sky had a sheen in front of them and they bobbed through it like they'd passed through a thick fog. The Burrow appeared in the distance, its lights on as a beacon of home to those who were on their way.

Hagrid fought with the bike that jumped through the air. "Hold on, you two! She's not gonna behave!"

Hagrid slammed them into one of the ponds, bouncing them along. The water poured up over them, leaving Harry and Rebecca drenched as they clutched onto each other tightly. The bike continued to rev and bounce before finally coming to a stop a few feet into one of the smaller ponds. Hagrid offered Rebecca a hand, the water only reaching up to the half-giants thighs.

Rebecca expected the water to be a little deeper for her compared to Hagrid, but she didn't expect it to go up to her shoulders. Harry jumped into the water next to her and hooked his hand through her belt loop, holding her higher as they made their way onto dry land.

"REBECCA!" Molly shouted as she and Ginny tore out of the house. "HARRY!" Molly stopped in front of them, wiping off Rebecca and then Harry's face. "What happened? Where are the others?"

"No one else is back?" Rebecca whispered, looking back to the house.

"They were on us right from the start, Molly. We didn't stand a chance." Hagrid shook his head, "The Death Eaters were waiting for us."

Molly looked to the children. "At least you two are alright."

"It was an ambush..." Hagrid's voice trailed away as he and Molly left the three others. 

Ginny walked forward, staring at the mud spattered twins. "Ron and Tonks should've already been back." She looked at Rebecca nervously. "Fred and dad, too."

There was a crack of someone apparating to their right and Remus' voice called out. Out from the tall grass came Remus with a bleeding Harry-copy on his shoulder and Sirius behind him with an unconscious Rebecca-copy. "Here!" Remus shouted, "Into the house!"

Hagrid stepped out of the way as Rebecca took the other half of the body Sirius dragged along and Harry helped Remus. "Who is it?" Rebecca asked though Sirius hadn't answered the first time she asked. The Harry between Harry and Remus was missing an ear, that much was made clear by the blood that had seeped down his face and coated his shirt. The second the Rebecca-copy was down on the chair next to the bleeding Harry, Rebecca shouted over the din of chaos and held onto Sirius tightly, "WHO IS IT?"

Molly's gasp as the potion wore off distracted Rebecca long enough for Remus to grab her roughly. He slammed her back into the wall by the fireplace next to Harry and held his wand up at the two of them. Remus shushed Ginny's interjection and hoisted the wand closer to Harry's neck. Rebecca watched the body on the couch turn into a pale, earless George, the copy of herself fading back into Cedric.

"What creature sat in the corner the first time Harry visited my office in Hogwarts?" Remus demanded.

"Are you mad?" Harry shouted.

"What creature?" Remus shouted over him. Rebecca tried to step forward, needing to get to George's side. Remus shoved her back and kept his attention on Harry.

"A-A grindylow!" Harry answered pushing Remus' hand off her.

Remus pushed him aside and narrowed his sights on Rebecca. Sirius stepped forward and shook his head at Remus. "We've been betrayed." Remus said forcefully.

"Not by them. Look," Sirius cupped Rebecca's face and spoke softly. "You asked me once how to say something in French, do you remember?" Rebecca nodded. "What was it?"

"What I wanted to know or what you told me?" She responded drily, looking at Remus warily. "I wanted to know how to ask you you were, you told me how to ask someone to bed." 

Sirius took his hand from her face and she rushed forward, kneeling next to Molly who was washing away the blood that smeared across George's face. Rebecca and Molly worked together while Sirius walked Remus to the edge of the room. The men spoke quietly as Cedric stirred, shooting up and holding his fists up to his face to fight in the battle he'd already been taken from. Harry laid his hands on Cedric's shoulders and waited for him to realise that he was safe. Cedric dropped to the ground at the sight of George and crawled forward, Rebecca giving him the rag she had been using to help.

Remus addressed the room, "Voldemort knew they were being moved tonight. I had to make sure they weren't impostors." 

The sound of apparation brought Rebecca to the door, feet behind Remus who jumped back into action. Sirius held her back, though the fight went out of her when she saw that it was Kingsley and Hermione. Remus and Kingsley held their wands up at each other, Kingsley initiating the identity check. "What were the last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"

Remus sighed in relief and nodded his head to Rebecca and Harry, "They are our best hope. Trust in that."

Kingsley lowered his wand. "What gave you away?"

Harry answered, "Hedwig, I think. She was trying-She protected us." Rebecca watched as Hermione went through a similar check, albeit calmer that theirs had been. Another appearance, Bill and Fleur on a thestral. Tonks and Ron came next, Hermione grabbing Ron tightly.

"He deserves that!" Tonks called out as she and Sirius bumped fists. "Brilliant, he was. I wouldn't be standing here without him." 

Ron blushed at the compliment. Hermione looked him up and down, "Really?"

"Always the tone of surprise." Ron remarked cheekily. He looked to Rebecca and looked around, "Fred back? George?"

Rebecca's face crumpled, "Not Fred. He's coming. I know it." Rebecca wrenched her arm from Harry's comforting grip. "They're coming!"

Harry stepped forward and wrapped Hermione and Ron into a desperate hug, Rebecca not letting him offer her any comfort effecting him deeper than she knew. There was hardly a minute that passed before two more appeared in the far side of the clearing, the potion already worn off of Fred. Arthur patted Fred's shoulder and looked around, "We the last ones back?"

Fred caught Rebecca's eyes as she ran through the space between them and held him with a need he reciprocated. Fred looked around over her head, "Where's George?"

Rebecca grabbed his hand and turned back to the house, Fred broke into a run at the silence that said more than words could have. Cedric was kneeling at the end of the couch, brushing the hair off George's forehead. Molly was sitting on the edge of the couch at his legs and held onto Fred as he put his forehead up to George's chest. The room was silent as George stirred momentarily. 

Fred lifted his head from George, "Georgie? How are you feeling?" Cedric leaned closer to hear what he was going to say.

"Saint-like."

Fred scanned George's face worriedly, not expecting brain damage. "Come again?"

"Saint-like." George repeated, looking up at Fred and then Cedric. "I'm holy." George caught Rebecca's eyes across the room. "I'm holey, get it?"

A hysterical laugh escaped Fred, "The whole wide world of ear related humour and you go with 'I'm holy?' That's pathetic."

Rebecca turned away from the two of them, their calmness not contagious. Fleur raised an arm and let the younger girl bury herself into her, holding the back of her head. Fleur whispered, but Rebecca couldn't hear over the panic that was washing up over her like a flooding river.

"I reckon I'm still better looking than you." George whispered, very tired. Cedric kissed his forehead and continued to rub George's head. 

Fred patted George's arm, "You always were." Fred pushed himself to his feet and nodded to Fleur. Fleur took a step back and Rebecca looked up confused until Fred brought her against him sideways so that her head laid against his chest. "Do you remember what you told me one time you went out and saved someone and scared the hell out of me?" Fred asked her quietly. She shook her head. Fred tilted her head so that her ear was against his heart. "'Listen. It beats, I'm here, I'm alive. We can't worry about the what-ifs when we're together.'"

Rebecca looked up to him and answered after a moment of thought. "That sounds like something I'd say, it's smart."

Fred chuckled until Bill stepped forward. "Mad-Eye's dead. Mundungus got one look of Voldemort and disapparated, but I saw Mad-Eye fall." The room muttered amongst themselves quietly at the news, groups forming of those who were making sure the others were alright.

Fred and Rebecca stayed where they were, the other being all that they needed. 

The downfall, Rebecca and Fred found hours later, to an attic room was that the stairs seemed so much taller than they were after you'd showered and brushed your teeth. The clock downstairs, the clock in which each child with the Weasley name had a spoon on it, chimed twelve times.

Fred apparated to the top of the stairs and motioned for Rebecca to follow suit. Rebecca hesitated before realising what the clock's chiming signalled, it was twelve o'clock. Their birthday had arrived and Rebecca and Harry were now of legal age to perform magic outside of Hogwarts.

Rebecca apparated up the stairs, smoothing out her dress that Molly had laid out for the wedding before climbing onto she and Fred's bed. Rebecca was confused as to why Arthur and Molly had let them share a room, but Molly had worded it best. _"You're going to sleep in each other's beds one way or the other. This way just takes out a step."_

Fred sighed and rolled onto her, his elbows holding holding him up on either side of her face. "You do know what has to happen now, right?" 

Rebecca looked at him curiously, "We go to sleep?"

Fred shook his head, "Oh, my sweet, empty-headed love-"

"Hey!"

Fred pecked the end of her nose, sliding her glasses off her and setting them onto the night table. "Someone needs birthday kisses."

*******************************************

Harry had had a frightening dream. He had to watch as Ron was murdered, as Hermione was tortured, as Rebecca was dragged away from him. He shot up in his bed and knew what he was going to do. He was seventeen now, he was an adult he could make his own decisions. 

That's what he thought as he sneakily pulled on his clothes and slipped his shoes on, his backpack on his back as he eased out of the Burrow in the early morning. Ron, although a heavy sleeper, woke up at movement in his room. He ran out of the house after Harry, not keeping his voice down outside. "Going somewhere?"

Harry stopped and stared ahead a moment before turning back to Ron. "No one else is going to die. No one else is going to get hurt. Not for me."

"For you?" Ron asked incredulously as Harry turned back to continue away from the Burrow. "You think Mad-Eye died for you? You think George took that curse for you?" Ron held his hands out, "I'd die for you in a second, a heart beat. Rebecca, too. But I'm not doing that _for_ you. No one is doing this for you."

"Come with me." Harry offered. "We can go right now. Leave the girls."

"Leave Hermione?" Ron shuddered. "I don't even want to know how they'd react. Rebecca...Blimey, she'd hunt us down. And with Hermione's help? They'd find us." Ron shook his head, "You're mad anyway. We wouldn't last two days without her. Without either of them." Ron looked back at the house. "We've still got the wedding-"

"I don't care about the wedding. I don't care whose it is. We have to start finding these horcruxes. They are our only chance to beat him and the longer we stay, the stronger he gets."

"Don't act like that's why you're leaving." Ron crossed his arms. "You're scared." Harry stared at Ron. "You're scared of something happening to Rebecca like it did to George and I'll tell you what, mate, that's messed up." Ron closed the distance between he and Harry and grabbed Harry by the straps of his backpack, pulling him up on his tiptoes and shaking him once. "Everyone is scared. But tonight's not the night. No one is going anywhere."

Harry put his arms around Ron and cried. Cried because he was too weak to leave on his own. Cried because he didn't see a possible way to do his mission without those most important to him risking their lives. Cried for his owl.

*******************************************

Rebecca hopped down the stairs as she did any morning, ready for the day's activities. A banner hung over the front window that said _"Bill and Fleur"_ in cursive that Rebecca had played an important role in helping Molly make it, yarn holder.

The outside of the Burrow was filled with Arthur shouting for Fred, George, and Ron to raise the tent evenly and Harry carried his tie loosely in his hand. Rebecca smiled and took it from him, sliding it under his collar before expertly tying it in seconds. "Why did you give Hermione such a storm if you're so good at it?"

Rebecca shrugged, "I guess because she made such a storm." Harry looked over Rebecca and complimented her. The dress was an old one of Molly's that Molly had worked very hard on tailoring. The hem had been brought up so that it danced across Rebecca's knees when she walked and the sleeves, which had already been very short, had been trimmed and seamed so that they were thin, crossing straps that went over her shoulder. Rebecca thanked him and tugged on his tie before greeting Sirius and Remus who had arrived early to help. 

"I actually need some of your help upstairs, Sirius." Remus watched for a moment as Rebecca brought Sirius up to the creaking stairs before Molly put him to work outside.

"What can I assist with, favourite goddaughter." Sirius looked around the bathroom she'd brought him to confused. "I must admit, I am fairly lost and that is a rare occurrence, indeed."

Rebecca reached into a drawer and pulled out Molly's scissors. Sirius jumped back and held his hands in front of his hair, "No, don't come any closer!"

Rebecca let her hands dropped to her sides, "They're not for you...Why would I tell you to cut your hair?"

Sirius ran a hand through his mane, "Moony's been begging me to get it trimmed, but I think it's a front." Sirius laughed softly as Rebecca put a towel over her shoulders and sat on the stool she'd already put in the tub. "The man knows how to braid, I tell you that."

Rebecca grabbed the inches of curls that went over her shoulders and drew a line that was up with her chin, "Just hack it off."

Sirius tutted and combed his fingers through it. "I don't know..."

"It'll be harder to grab." Rebecca said softly. "We'll be leaving anytime now and I didn't want to ask Fred."

Sirius began to snip slowly, well aware of the labour Molly had planned for the morning and hoping to get out of as much of it as possible. "Why?" He asked curiously.

"Because I care what he thinks." Rebecca sighed, "Though I guess that's not really it, he tells me what he thinks of me everyday."

Sirius nodded once, "Good, that's important. I put Remus on a strict compliment regiment, four times a day."

Rebecca laughed and grew serious again. "I-We don't really talk about how we'll be leaving. If we don't talk about it, we can pretend it's not happening."

Sirius stood in silence a few minutes, black locks of hair continuing to fall to the tub's bottom. "I'm so sorry this is happening again."

Rebecca turned as she was asked. "A haircut?" Sirius smacked the back of her head lightly, "Yeah, yeah, I know." Rebecca sighed, "I am too."

Sirius asked a few questions about things that they had packed and brought up the subject of the mirror. 

"I'm not bringing it." Rebecca stood up as Sirius directed and he waved his wand so that the hair formed a pile and put itself in the trash can. "If they find out there's a way to see us, even if it's as small as a compact, they will use it and they will kill to find it."

Sirius nodded and gave her a sad smile, "Smart as your mother."

Rebecca looked into the mirror and was shocked at the image staring back at her. Sirius was looking at her intently and she could see why. Her hair was inches shorter than it had been, just long enough to tuck behind her ears. "And as good looking as my godfather." Rebecca finished. 

Sirius grinned and put the scissors back into the drawer he'd watched her take them out of, "That is correct."

*******************************************

Back downstairs, Harry looked up from the paper at the footsteps that hurried to him. Expecting Rebecca, he jumped up. Harry was graced by a different appearance. Ginny held her hair over her shoulder and turned her back to him, the dress she was wearing needing zipping. "Will you?"

Harry stood and dropped the paper onto the table, not caring about the different people coming forth with 'the real Dumbledore.' Ginny looked over her shoulder at him as his hands brushed against the smooth skin at the bottom of her back and Harry looked down sheepishly as he 'fumbled' to find the zip's handle. 

"It seems silly, a wedding, doesn't it? Given everything that's going on?" Ginny asked.

Harry, of the same opinion only hours earlier, found a change of heart if it meant he got to see Ginny in the dress she was wearing. "Maybe that's the best reason to have it. Everything's that going on." Ginny laid her hand on Harry's chest and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. 

George and Cedric crept in, not wanting to interrupt but needing to get in the kitchen. George, who had been brushing his teeth, stuck the end into the numb hole that had become his ear and lifted his tea cup to Cedric's to tap the glass together. "Morning." George intoned slowly, giving Ginny a coy wink before sipping from his cup. Cedric raised his eyebrows over the edge of the tea cup he held to his lips but said nothing.

Rebecca and Sirius made their way back down the stairs just as Harry ducked away around the corner. George tilted his head at Rebecca, "You do something different?"

Rebecca took the tea cup out of his hand and had a sip. "Funny new hat you've got on, isn't it?" She traced a hand around her head like his bandage.

George bowed his head in a stalemate and pointed out the back door, "He's out there, if you were looking."

"Who?" Rebecca asked over her shoulder but the jest was meaningless as she was already halfway out.

"All together now!" Arthur called to everyone outside. "One...Two...Three!"

Rebecca stood out of the way as she watched Fred focus on the task at hand, his arm out in front of him proving that his time away from the quidditch pitch hadn't affected him in anyway. The sun cast a shadow across his face, the bridge of his nose the boundary of a silhouette. "How's it looking down your end, boys?" Arthur called to Bill and Fred who were side by side.

"Brilliant!" Bill answered, nudging Fred to look down towards where Rebecca stood.

"Oh," Fred gasped, walking to her. He had already seen her in her dress that morning, but he was breathless all the same. "You..."

"Yeah, a little."

"A little?" Fred brushed his hands against the tops of her now uncovered shoulders. 

"Too much?" She asked carefully.

Fred pulled her into a tight hold, kissing her fiercely. "You are stunning. Always have been, always will be." She pulled him into a kiss, bringing her hand up to the back of his neck and ignoring the apparating arrival, expecting it to be another guest. "Bloody hell, you-I can't." Fred kissed her again, tilting her to the side with his hand firmly at the base of her back and one behind her neck. 

"What's the Minister of Magic doing here?" Ron asked.

Rebecca looked up, Fred letting her back onto her feet as she turned around confused, "Fudge?"

"The current Minister." Rufus Scrimgeour answered before walking into the kitchen like he owned the place. "Miss Granger, Mister Potter, Miss Potter Weasley, and Mister Weasley?" An array of heads looked up at the last name, "Mister Ronald Weasley?"

Ron stepped forward.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Minister?" Harry asked callously. Rufus had tried too many times to get Harry and Rebecca to side with the Ministry's investigations into Dumbledore. Rebecca had refused so emphatically and with such an extensive vocabulary, she hadn't been asked again.

"I think we both know the answer to that question." 

*******************************************

Bill and Fred were seated at one of the tables that had already been set up outside as the Minister conducted his private business with the seventeen year olds. Bill looked at the box Fred held out to him, "You've really done it now."

"Really?" Fred breathed. "I'm so nervous. I think I'm going to drop."

Bill laughed, loudly. "Why?"

Fred closed the box and looked down. "I don't know, she could always say no."

Bill nodded, "She could. She could ask you to wait, too."

Fred tapped the box nervously. "I don't want to though. Whatever happens, I want it to be us together, forever."

Bill grabbed Fred's shoulder tightly, "And it will be, yes or no. Don't let a formality be what you hinge this on, let it be something more important. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Fred stared at his brother that he hadn't realised had become much wiser than the one who had slipped him the acid pop to give to toddler Ron so many years ago. "Yeah, I do."

And that's how Fred found himself cornering both Remus, Sirius, and Arthur later while the other four were still inside. "So...I-Uh, I wanted to...I needed to-I should ask-"

"Rebecca was right." Sirius chimed in Fred's stammering. "No wonder she had to say yes before he asked."

"When was that, dear?" Remus played along.

"Let's see...there was the ball, dating, kiss-"

"She told you all that?" Fred paled.

"Yes." Sirius crossed his arms. "Which is why we say yes. Because she's never been anything but honest and in that honesty is love. Arthur?"

Arthur wiped a tear from his eye, "My boys are so old."

Fred clasped his father into a tight hug and held him for a long time.

*******************************************

Rufus had asked them to take a seat on one of the couches in the living room before he laid out a velvet tied parcel. 

"And this is..." Rebecca was thrilled at the look he shot her. Annoying someone as high up as the Minister of Magic had a strange thrill.

Rufus reached into the bag at his feet and took out a folded document that he read from seriously. "Herein is set forth the last will and testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. First, to Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my deluminator, a device of my own making in the hope that when things seem most dark, it will show him the light."

Ron reached out for the lighter-looking mechanism and held it carefully. "Dumbledore left this for me?"

Rufus moved on without answering, "To Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' in the hope that she find it entertaining and instructive."

Ron looked at the book fondly, "Mum used to read me those. 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot.' 'Babbity Rabbity and the Cackling Stump.'" Rebecca looked to Harry before shaking her head not recognising either of those stories. "Babbity Rabbity? Come on!" Ron gasped.

Rufus sighed in disbelief that this was where the Minister of Magic was to spend his morning. "To Harry James Potter, I leave the snitch he caught in his first quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill." Harry took the snitch, remembering the match fondly.

"And, finally, Rebecca Jane Potter Weasley." Rufus glanced at her before reading from the paper. "I leave you my own locket, to remind us not of what we have lost but what we have to live for." Rebecca took the silver chain with a little box on the end carefully, opening it and finding that the inside was foggy and without a picture.

"There isn't-"

"I am only allowed to read what is on the paper, girl."

"So that's it?" She asked, moving to stand up.

"Not quite." Rufus enjoyed the flash of irritation that crossed her face. "Dumbledore left a second bequest--The sword of Godric Gryffindor. Unfortunately, the sword of Godric Gryffindor was not Dumbledore's to give away. As an important historical artifact, it belongs-"

"To whom is was given, to Harry." Hermione interrupted. "It came to him when he most needed it in the Chamber of Secrets."

"One day I'm going to get a step by step retelling of that, you hear me?" Rebecca muttered darkly. She and Hermione had been petrified and it was more and more clear that Rebecca had not gotten a full recount of events.

"The sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor, Miss Granger. That does not make it that wizard's property. And, in any event, the current whereabouts of the sword are unknown."

"Excuse me?" Ron demanded.

Rufus stared at Rebecca as he spoke, expecting that all trouble originated with such a foul mouthed girl. "I don't know what you're up to, Potter, but you can't fight this war on your own. He's too strong. You should rely on the Ministry."

Rebecca leaned forward and put her hands on the table, "Potter. Weasley."

*******************************************

The tent was filled with dancing witches and wizards that night, as the moment sundown passed Bill and Fleur started greeting the guests. Fred, who had been adamantly looking for Rebecca, finally found she and Tonks standing outside chatting about the service that was set to start soon.

"Rebecca!" Fred sighed in relief.

"Fred!" She copied and laughed before seeing how serious he was. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Fred shook his head. "You didn't eat that cake we found, did you? I told you I had no idea how-"

"That's not it." Fred interrupted, blushing at how Tonks laughed into her hand. "And no, I did not eat that!"

Rebecca reached up and rubbed at a spot on his collar, "This is chocolate."

Fred reached up and grabbed her wrists, apparating them to the platform he and Bill had levitated over the tent. Rebecca stepped closer to him and laughed, "Bloody hell!"

Fred shushed her and peered over the edge to make sure that no one heard her. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Weren't we talking down there?" Rebecca asked.

Fred grabbed her hands and held them in front of him. "We were, but I wanted to talk to you privately." Fred took a slow breath and reached into his pocket, pulling out a box that he put into her hands. "I want to be yours...Forever and always, yours. I know that we haven't talked about it, but I wanted to tell you that."

Rebecca stared at the box. "And the box?"

"Open it."

Rebecca flipped the soft lid open and almost dropped it. Fred cupped his hands under hers and looked at her for an indication other than shock. Rebecca was staring at a ring. "You want to get married?" Rebecca whispered.

"If you do, then yes. If you don't, I can wait. I'll wait forever if you-I'll wait forever for you." Fred watched Rebecca's face as she slowly looked up to him.

"Yes." Rebecca nodded. "I'll-I'll marry you."

Fred slipped the ring out of the box and remembered when he, Cedric, and George had walked past the jewelry store in Diagon Alley and it seemed to scream at him through the glass. He'd paused in front of the window until George and Cedric noticed and stood on either side of him. "You're looking at that one, right?" George asked as he point to one. Fred nodded and the decision was made quickly, it was a perfect stroke of coincidence.

It was simple and exactly what Rebecca would have chosen for herself. It was a band without a diamond. Instead, a dark line was traced around the silver band strangely reminiscent of the line around her wand handle. The ring itself was silver while the line was a dark, ruby colour that changed based on the light. It was basic, ornamental in its simplicity.

Fred took is out of the box and held it in his hand. Rebecca raised her wand and blushed darkly. _"Accio ring."_ A box whizzed out of the bottom drawer of their dresser, leaving a trail of socks and underwear behind it in their room. "I thought this was where we would end up one day..." Fred watched as Rebecca opened the box she'd been carrying around since she and Harry learned that they would die or Voldemort would. She took out a band and placed it in his palm. She didn't move to put it on his finger. "Look on the inside."

He turned it towards the light that poured out of the settling, soon-to-start ceremony below. _"All's well."_ Two words were engraved on the inside in her familiar handwriting. "How did you do this?" Fred asked as he traced a finger over the words.

"Magic." Rebecca took it from him and listened as the officiator cleared his throat below. "We gather here to see the unification of two families in holy matrimony." Fred stared at Rebecca and traced over her face slowly. "If anyone should have reason for such a union to halt, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Rebecca laid her hand on his and stepped closer to him so that she was directly in front of him, their bodies together. It didn't matter that the officiator didn't see them, it didn't matter that this was technically nothing. They had each other and that was all they needed.

Harry, in a chair with the rest of the Weasleys and family guests, leaned over the empty space he'd saved for Rebecca and whispered to Remus, "Where's Rebecca?"

Remus offered him a small smile and Sirius leaned forward on the other side of him to give Harry a big thumbs up. 

"The vows, if you please."

Rebecca spoke as Fleur did, nothing prepared and yet knowing exactly what she wanted to say. "When I saw this house nearly eight years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I won't lie, I did consider the possibility of living in your tree house forever." Fred chuckled and wiped the tear away from her cheek. "I never could have dreamed that I would have found a family. I never imagined finding love. But most of all, I never imagined being loved." Rebecca took a shuddering breath and slipped the ring onto Fred's finger. "And that's what's happened. I have a family, I have love to give, and I am loved. And I have you. That's all I will ever need."

Fred nodded, "That you are. Loved deeply and entirely." Fleur's vows ended and Bill's voice began, though he couldn't be heard from their place above. Fred took the cue as his turn to try and word just how desperately he loved her. "When I ran down the stairs that night, I thought it was a rogue gnome again." Fred laughed once, nerves evaporating as he spoke from his heart. "Seeing you on the floor...it was like my world froze. I didn't know who you were, I didn't know why you were there, I didn't know why I needed to know." Fred laughed as she wiped the tears that fell down his face. "I don't know how you do the things you do to me. You drive me mad, you make me think in ways I never would without you, you make me a better person--A stronger person." Fred held her hand and waited to put the ring on her. "And that's why I know that this is right. We balance each other out. Through our family and through the love that I have for you and you have for me. It's all I will ever need."

Rebecca looked at the ring on her hand before grabbing Fred and kissing him deeply.

"You may now kiss the bride." Echoed out through the tent and Fred pulled himself from her before starting the kiss again so he could say at least that was done by the books.

*******************************************

<3


	20. CHAPTER 15

**Fred apparated the two of them down** to the grass in front of the tent before they slipped in without being noticed. Madam Maxime and Hagrid watched as the two of them took two glasses from the table that never emptied before walking amongst the party goers and remarking that it was a lovely service.

Rebecca and Fred were stopped at the edge of the dance floor by Sirius and Remus who wiggled their eyebrows and motioned for Rebecca give them a hint as to how it had gone. She pushed her hair behind her ear out of habit and jumped at the noise Remus made. "The ring, she's wearing the ring, Padfoot!"

Fred turned his head at the name, "What'd you just call him?" Remus ignored his serious tone and kissed the top of Sirius' head, clearly a little inebriated. 

"Padfoot, Fred. It's a nickname." Rebecca's grin gave away that she knew more than she let on.

"You knew!" Fred gasped, "You knew they made the map!"

Rebecca grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dancefloor, "Just like you knew there was no such thing as wizard's mistletoe."

Harry smiled at the sight of them, taking note of the new glint that shone off Rebecca's hand behind Fred's neck as they swayed from side to side at the slow song that played. Harry had already asked the next song to be the record he'd accioed from Grimmauld Place, _Lames' Song._ It was a sentiment that Harry knew Rebecca would appreciate.Ron, who had stood beside Harry throughout the wedding so far, was so entranced with Hermione across the tent that he didn't notice Harry breakaway to find Ginny.

"Hello, Harry!" Luna spoke from where she appeared in front of him.

Harry stepped back, slightly shocked. "Hello, Luna."

"I've interrupted a deep thought, haven't I? I can see it growing smaller in your eyes."

"Of course not," Harry reassured. "How are you?"

"Very well." Luna answered as a taller, longer haired version of Luna appeared behind her and kissed the top of her head. 

"Xenophilius Lovegood. We live just over the hill."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Harry shook the hand that was offered to him and looked over Luna's shoulder to where Rebecca had her head thrown back in laughter as Fred whispered something in her ear. 

"I trust you know, Mister Potter, that we at the Quibbler unlike those toadies at the Daily Prophet, fully supported Dumbledore in his lifetime and in his death, you just as fully." Harry stared ahead at the much closer chest of the man, Xenophilius had stepped much closer than standard social measures allowed as he spoke.

Harry looked up and wasn't fully surprised that Xenophilius was so odd, Luna suddenly made a lot more sense. "Thank you."

Luna gave Harry a small smile and grabbed her father's hand, "Come on, father. Harry doesn't want to talk to us right now. He's just too polite to say so."

Harry choked, "No, not at all!" Luna had already walked away.

Harry shook his head and paused his pursuit of Ginny. He stopped behind Fred and tapped his shoulder, Rebecca looking to him the happiest he'd ever seen her. "May I?" Harry asked without asking. Fred took a step back and kissed the back of Rebecca's hand before stepping away to find Bill. "I saw something strangely shiny over here." Harry murmured.

"Really?" Rebecca asked as Harry and she began to move with the rest of the crowd. "Wonder what it was."

"Something tells me it was quite special." Rebecca turned their hands over so that hers was on top and he could see what he so obviously was alluding to. "Marriage."

"We know it's not official." Rebecca's smile dimmed a few watts. "But it could be all that-"

"It could be all that you need." Harry changed the path she was going, not wanting to see her think of such horrible things. "Who needs a scrap of paper? All you needed was a hyphen, write it in. I'd like to see who tries to stop you."

Rebecca stared at Harry before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. "You've grown a lot, you know. I remember when you had your knickers in a knot because you thought we'd-"

"I remember." Harry shook his head and laughed, not needing his assumptions rehashed. "That seems like a million years ago." The song ended and another began, though Rebecca stepped back and let go of his hand. 

"Wrong Weasley to dance with, Harry. Don't forget your big boy trousers." Rebecca found Fred next to Bill and Fleur at the table where the guests had unanimously decided it was only for family to meet.

Rebecca pecked Fleur's cheek and popped a French Fancy from the bowl on the table into her mouth. "Comment ça-va, madam?" (How are you, mrs)

Fleur laughed, "Très bien! Mais, j'écoute un pièce d'info qu'est qu'il avait deux mariages cet nuit..." (Very well! But, I heard a piece of information that there were two marriages tonight...)

Rebecca couldn't thing to say anything and she could feel the candy wearing away. "Merci, pour votre gentillesse." (Thank you for your kindness.)

Fleur grabbed Bill's hand and smiled, "That's what family's for."

Fred pulled a chair out behind them and put his elbow on the table to lean his head on to observe the party in front of them. Sirius had sobered Remus up to a respectable level and was now dancing at the very edge of the dance floor so Remus could say that he wasn't technically dancing. Harry and Ginny were next to George and Cedric, talking amongst themselves happily. Charlie was talking with Tonks animatedly, Molly and Arthur close to them. 

Fred turned his attention to Rebecca and he was surprised to catch her staring at him intently. "What? More chocolate?"

Rebecca giggled and pushed her chair closer to his before deciding she was best off right on his lap. "No more chocolate...though I did say you ate that and I remember someone saying they didn't."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't eat it." Fred pursed his lips comically. "Kisses are supposed to help your memory however."

Bill turned to Fleur, who had both been listening to their conversation nosily. "Did you know that, Fleur?"

"I did not, William." 

"You should help me remember then!" Bill and Fleur kissed before standing and making their way to converse with their guests.

Fred watched them go and kissed Rebecca when they were gone, widening his eyes when they pulled apart. "Look at that! I remember!"

"You remember eating the cake that no one knew how old it was?" Rebecca shook her head, "Poor memory."

"Oh no, I was serious. I didn't eat that." Fred pulled her closer and laid his head against her chest. "I remembered that I love you."

Rebecca traced a finger down the angle of his jaw and whispered, "You're mental."

And that's how they were when the world exploded.

Harry had just finished a dance with Ginny and was walking to find Hermione and Ron when he saw the white light rushing at the tent the wedding was in full swing under. A lynx patronus stopped in the middle of the tent, directly in front of Arthur and spoke so that all in attendance could hear. 

"The Ministry has fallen," Kingsley spoke. "The Minister of Magic is dead. They are coming." Kingsley's voice dropped to a whisper, Rebecca not wanting to know why. "They are coming."

Fred stood up instantly, setting her on her feet in front of him and grabbing her. "You are going to be fine, okay? You're going to go and do what you have to do and then you're going to come back to me." Rebecca nodded, finding that she couldn't bring herself to move away from him. 

Harry ran behind them and pulled at her, "Rebecca!"

Fred kissed her quickly, though his feelings were shared in their brevity. "I love you."

"I love you, too. I'll be as safe as you are." Rebecca followed Harry towards where Molly was corralling Hermione away. "It's time, mum." Molly shook her head and tried to stop them from going. "It is, I'm sorry." Rebecca kissed her cheek and looked around, "Tell dad that I love him, too. Tell everyone."

Ron repeated her wish as he and Hermione appeared, both of them holding each other as the first Death Eater tore through the tent, igniting the roof. More arrived, guests disapparating left and right while Death Eaters began to gather up the stragglers. Sirius and Remus fought side by side, stepping forward and throwing Harry back as he went to defend Ginny.

"GO!" Sirius roared, his wand constantly in motion to send a spell or counterspell. "GO!"

Harry, once back with the other three, was disapparated away by Hermione. Rebecca put her hands out on either side of her and tackled them to the side, Hermione landing them directly in the path of a tour bus. The streets were filled with muggles of all ages, all heading in different directions. Rebecca put her arm through Harry's as Hermione did Ron's, hoping to blend in as Hermione took the lead and walked them down an even more crowded street.

"Where are we?" Ron asked, looking around and finding nothing familiar. Rebecca hadn't ever been in London at night and the lights and blaring voices and horns were disorienting.

"Shaftesbury Avenue." Hermione answered. "I used to come to the theatre here...with mum and dad. I don't know why I came here, it just popped into my head."

"It's brilliant!" Rebecca said, looking around in a daze. "You couldn't find anyone in this mess if you tried."

Hermione turned to the left sharply and marched down an alley, stopping with her back in a divot that provided a modicum of privacy. "We need to change." She reached into the bag she'd had on her hip for days and plunged in past her elbow.

"How the ruddy-" Rebecca reached under the bag to see if she could feel Hermione's arm.

"Undetectable extension charm." Hermione answered, thrusting a change of clothes into her hand before handing a pair to Ron and Harry. 

Ron looked at the clothes in disbelief, "You're amazing. You are."

Hermione grinned, "Always the tone of surprise." A loud clatter came from the bag and Harry eyed it uncertainly. Hermione sighed, "That'll be the books."

Harry and Ron started stripping immediately, but Rebecca couldn't reach the zipper in the middle of her back. Hermione, reaching forward to help, noticed the adornment on her finger. "What's this?" Rebecca slipped out of her dress and changed quickly, unashamedly. It was a wonder what hearing on a daily basis for so long how stunning Fred found her had been on her self-confidence. The moments spent in her undergarments in front of her best friend and a blood and considered-brother would have mortified her years earlier but now passed without thought.

"My hand?" Rebecca tried to feign innocence before shaking her head and unable to hide the smile that spread across her face. "Desperate times, desperate measures, right?"

Hermione grinned and pulled her shirt over her head before walking next to Rebecca and talking on their way to somewhere where they could figure out where to go next.

*******************************************

"Do you think we should go back?" Harry asked in the diner they ended up in. "All those people at the wedding...they might need help."

"We'd only make it worse, they're after us after all." Rebecca paused as the waitress arrived. 

"Coffee?" She spoke quickly, in a rush. 

"A cappuccino, please." Hermione saw the clueless looks on Rebecca and Ron's faces. "They'll have the same."

Harry raised his hand, "Me, too."

The waitress snapped her gum and pointed around the table, "Four cappuccinos? You got it."

Ron put his hands through his hair and looked to Harry and Rebecca expectantly. "Where do we go from here? Leaky Cauldron?"

Harry shook his head, "Too dangerous. If Voldemort really has taken over the Ministry, then none of the old places are safe."

Hermione nodded, "Everyone from the wedding will have gone underground, into hiding."

Harry looked up in alarm, "My rucksack with all my things! I left it at the Burrow!" 

Rebecca's hands shot to her mouth, "My god, mine too. I had things we'd-" Hermione set her bag on the table slowly, shaking her head. "You're joking!" Rebecca breathed, the relief flooding through her. "Merlin, I'll just have a heart attack while you hold onto things like that."

Hermione sighed, "I've had the essentials packed for days, never-"

"DOWN!" Harry shouted, shoving Rebecca under the table. The two men at the case of baked goods had just taken their wands out. The men whirled around and sent curses at them, sending the table onto its side and dishes in every direction.

Rebecca stood up as Harry was sent backwards to the door, hitting it with a painful sounding crash. _"Stupefy!"_

They exchanged attacks quickly, Hermione paralysing one of them and Ron knocking the other out with a strong stunning spell that would leave the Death Eater sore for days. Harry pushed himself to his feet with a groan and hobbled towards the fallen Death Eaters. "Lock the door and get the lights."

Ron raised the deluminator and flooded the diner with darkness, Hermione and Rebecca going around and drawing shutters and closing shades. Rebecca knelt next to Harry in front of the closest Death Eater. "This one's Rowle." Harry pointed, "He was on the Astronomy Tower the night Snape killed Dumbledore."

Rebecca's trainers crunched on the glass as she walked to the other one. "This one's Dolohov." 

Ron joined her and stared at him, "Recognise him from the wanted posters. They did a good job. Never get the nose right, some of them." Ron raised his wand. "They'd kill us if it was the other way 'round."

Hermione was back with Harry and spoke Ron's name concerned. "Ron!"

"What if he did Mad-Eye?" Ron asked, still holding his wand up.

"If we kill them, they'll know we were here." Harry explained. "It's better we wipe their memories."

Ron was pulled away from the man by Rebecca and nodded to Hermione. "You're the best at memory spells, always have been."

Hermione held her wand up and paused, remembering the last time she'd cast this spell and how she was now, effectively parentless. _"Obliviate."_ Rebecca was in motion as Hermione took care of the other, taking a trash bag from under the sink in the back and picking the undestroyed food out of the now opened case before tying it up and putting it into Hermione's outstretched bag. "That was smart."

Rebecca nodded and stepped outside the door, "Food will be hard, but we'll manage."

Harry eyed the bag distastefully, "But we won't steal it all, will we?"

Rebecca sighed, "I don't know Harry, but this wasn't really stealing. It all would have gone into the rubbish anyway." The street was a rush, Hermione turning them down a quieter sidewalk. "How'd they find us though. That's what I don't get."

"Maybe we still have the trace?" Harry offered.

Ron shook his head, "Trace breaks at seventeen, wizarding law."

Hermione paused before continuing on, gasping. "Your birthday! We never celebrated it! Ginny and I," Hermione sighed, "We prepared a cake and everything."

"Chocolate, wasn't it?" Rebecca asked, thinking about how adamant Fred had been that he didn't eat the old cake.

Hermione nodded, "Yes, Fred insisted."

Rebecca nodded, "He 'sampled' the batter?"

Hermione laughed once, "Yes, repeatedly."

"He had it all over his collar." Rebecca stared ahead of them, what they were doing dawning on her for the first time. Ron grabbed her as she stumbled over nothing, pulling her to her feet and keeping her tightly against his side.

"Thank you, Hermione." Harry made sure she knew they were thankful before continuing. "But considering the fact that we were almost killed by a couple of Death Eaters a few minutes ago..."

Hermione shook her head, "Right. Perspective." 

Rebecca looked around and saw a row of buildings with glass roofs across a park. Ron made sure she was out of her shock and spoke quietly. "We need to get somewhere safe, somewhere off the streets."

Rebecca brought a hand up and wiped her sleeve across her face once, bringing herself back into the current moment before taking the lead. "We're close to somewhere that'll work, if I'm right." She was. Rebecca held her wand out to Grimmauld Place and spoke the codeword. _"Wolfstar."_

Like it had summers earlier, the rowhouse stretched apart revealing a darker, grimier house labelled Number 12. Harry nodded his head, "Genius." He stepped to the front as Ron closed the door behind them, flipping the switch the lights down the hall. All four had their wands in hand, but only Rebecca raised it as a dense fog gathered in the distance.

Rebecca put Hermione firmly behind her as the fog took form, a wispy Dumbledore flying down towards them with outstretched hands. _"Protego!"_ A shield went up from her wand and the Dumbledore copy hit it before dissipating into nothing. 

Harry looked at Rebecca demandingly, "What was that all about?!"

Rebecca shrugged, "Mad-Eye's idea. He wanted to know some of our ideas for home defense, newest line." Our, Harry thought, cleary meant she, Fred, and George's. They had to do something in the weeks he'd been at the Dursley's before the plan to bring him to the Burrow. At least it was constructive.

Harry nodded, "Smart, in case Snape tried to come snooping-" Harry fell silent as a thumping rattled out through the house. Sirius and Remus no longer resided at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, they bounced from place to place with the hopes of settling into a permanent home after the war was through.

Hermione pointed her wand down the hall, _"Homenum revelio!"_ Nothing happened and Hermione turned to the rest of them. "We're alone."

Rebecca walked them through the house quickly before they went to sleep, all of them grabbing blankets and pillows as they climbed the flights of stairs to the top most room with the wall of windows. "It'll be easiest to escape from." She rationalised to Ron's complaining. "If anyone storms the front door, we'll have plenty of time to disapparate before they even get up here."

Harry kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. Sleep came over them all without fight, the day emotionally and physically draining.

*******************************************

The sun shone into the room brightly and Rebecca reached across her blanket expecting to find Fred's warm body there. Her eyes shot open as her hand grabbed nothing but the floor and she sat up quickly, remembering where they were. She's always been an early riser and she couldn't lay there and agonise over Fred and the other's safety, so she grabbed her wand and slipped out of the room.

The house, dark as ever, forced her to hold her wand out in front of her with the end blazing. Doors were labelled in an institutionalised way, and when she found Sirius' she opened it without hesitation. She had a hunch. "Regulus had the real locket, that is clear enough." She spoke to herself, finding it therapeutic to hear a noise break the heavy silence of the house. "Now we just need to know what he did with it."

Sirius room was adorned with Gryffindor banners and pennants, red and gold over every surface imaginable. There were photos of motorcycles pinned up and a compilation of pictures pinned up on the back of the door. Rebecca looked over them slowly, not finding any need to rush with the others still asleep. There were photos of James and Sirius as young boys, Remus and Sirius slightly older. One picture in particular caught her eye, it was torn down one end so that the person, Wortail, had only a hand in the frame. James was in between Lily and Sirius, his arms around either's neck while Remus stood stiffly, his hand just barely seen in the picture held by Sirius'. 

Rebecca left the room and closed the door behind her, there was no locket in there. Only loss and grief. 

"I think I found something!" Ron's voice echoed out across the house. _"Guess they woke early too."_ Rebecca called out for Ron to repeat himself. "Down here!" Hermione and Rebecca ran into each other a little before they both found Ron and Harry, the girls walking in unison. "Look," Ron motioned to the door's label before it swung open and revealed a destroyed, clearly ransacked room.

Rebecca stepped in immediately, Hermione reading the owner of the room out. "Regulus Arcturus Black."

Rebecca repeated her earlier question for the others to contribute to. "We know he had the real locket at one point, question is did he actually destroy it." Another rattle echoed out from the hall, similar to last night's. Harry marched out of the room with his wand in front of him, tired of the mystery noises.

Harry followed the noise to a small closet, the key still in its peephole. Rebecca grabbed the handle and caught Harry's eyes, nodding her head as she mouthed, "One...two...three!" Harry reached forward to grab whoever was in there and had to reach lower than he expected.

Kreacher groaned and whimpered as Harry threw him back, standing over the House Elf menacingly. "You've been spying on us?"

Kreacher shook his head, his eyes flitting between the four in front of him. "Kreacher has been...watching."

"Maybe he knows where the real locket is." Hermione offered, tilting her head at the little creature that had always spoken so cruelly to her. 

Rebecca reached into her pocket and fished out the fake horcrux, holding it out from top so that it dangled in front of Kreacher. "You ever seen this before?" Kreacher's gasp answered for him. "Where?" Rebecca demanded.

"Uh-I-It's Master Regulus' locket."

Harry crossed his arms. "But there were two. Where's the other one?"

Kreacher let out another groan. "Kreacher doesn't know where the other locket is." 

Rebecca stepped forward angrily at the evident half-truth and Hermione spoke before she could do something rash. "But did you ever see it? Was it in the house?"

Kreacher turned on Hermione, raising his voice. "You filthy Mudblood! Death Eaters are coming-!" 

Hermione reached out and grabbed Ron's arm, stopping him from hitting the house elf with the broom handle he grabbed off the wall in a rage. "Ron!" Hermione couldn't stop Ron's path herself and Harry turned to help her, knowing that a dead house elf would be even less help

Rebecca grabbed Kreacher by the straps of his pillow case overalls and held him up against the wall. "The locket, Kreacher. Don't test me."

"It was here!" Kreacher shouted out, Ron freezing at the admission. "It was in this house. An object most evil."

"How?" Rebecca lessened the force that she was holding him with, but still left him hanging.

"Before Master Regulus-" The house elf choked back a sob, the emotion scaring Rebecca. She set him on the ground and crouched in front of him, awkwardly patting his shoulder until he stood on his own and continued. "Before Master Regulus died, he ordered Kreacher to destroy it. No matter how hard Kreacher tried, Kreacher failed his master."

Rebecca shook her head, "No, Kreacher. You didn't fail him."

Harry pulled Rebecca up to her feet and stared down at the house elf, "Where is it now?" Kreacher shook his head. "Did someone take it?" Harry demanded.

"He came in the night." Kreacher muttered. "He took many things, including the locket."

"Who, Kreacher?" Rebecca asked seriously, but without the imminent threat of violence from before. Seeing the house elf that she'd always seen as a heartless, hateful monster so clearly grieve for Regulus left Kreacher in a new light for her. Kreacher had feelings other than hate, grief can only come from love. "We need to know."

"Mundungus." Kreacher spat the name. "Mundungus Fletcher."

Harry looked to Kreacher, "Find him, do you understand me?"

Kreacher acknowledged the order, but looked to Rebecca. He'd seen something in her that reminded him of Regulus, something that screamed of responsibility that had landed on her without want. 

"We have to find him, Kreacher. Regulus' death needs justice." Rebecca nodded her head and looked to the rest of them, "He'll do it."

"Kreacher will?" Kreacher asked drily.

"Yes, Kreacher will." Rebecca answered, "I know you will because that's what you want--You want his death to be answered for." 

Kreacher stared at her and apparated away, leaving the four of them to mull about as they picked through the bag of smashed bakery goods from the diner the night before.

*******************************************

Ginny slammed the compartment door shut behind her, blocking off all other students from accessing the space she had marked as her own to sulk in. Not that the space was needed, Ginny thought ruefully. There were hardly enough first years for a class; the train was the emptiest Ginny had ever seen it. 

Neville and Luna rapped on the door, opening it despite the fact that Ginny ignored it. "Come, Ginevra." Luna spoke softly. Luna was the only person allowed to call Ginny that. "Sit with friends, it helps."

Ginny sat a stubborn moment before following the others to the open-aired tables at the end of the train. Nigel waved to Ginny from his table with Louis and Yara, but he made no move to leave the serious looking conversation they were having. Neville slid into the booth and looked out the window at the countryside that blurred past them.

"No word then?" Neville asked with his head still turned to the window in case anyone was trying to read his lips.

"Not a single one." Ginny spat before shaking her head. "I didn't mean it like that, I know-"

"No, we know." Luna spoke again, an upside down copy of the Quibbler on the table in front of her that she didn't look away from. "We take no offense."

The train's brakes squeaked as it slowed hours before they would be to their destination. The Hogwarts' Express was quickly boarded by a line of Death Eaters in black robes, branching off to look through every compartment. At the end of the train, they found a scowling seventh year with his arms crossed and his feet planted firmly. "They're not here, losers." Neville glared at them.

"And if they were," Nigel smirked, "You'd never see them." Nigel through a Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder in front of them and the train was launched into chaos.

*******************************************

"I bring souvenirs," Remus spoke from Sirius' side in the living room of Grimmauld Place that afternoon. "I disagree with them, but someone insisted."

Sirius slapped the poster in front of them. "Undesirables NO. 1: Harry and Rebecca Potter." Was printed along the bottom clearly while a picture of Harry and Rebecca stared out from the middle. "I insist and, I edit." Sirius plucked a marker from his pocket and scribbled Weasley after Rebecca's name. "Hyphen, yeah?" They all found a rare moment of laughter as she blushed and Sirius wrote it in. "Better."

Remus turned the conversation back to business, "New Minister, clearly a pawn, just announced all Ministry workers submit themselves for evaluation."

"Arthur?" Rebecca asked as Ron grabbed Hermione's arms with white knuckles.

"He's fine, well prepared." Sirius winced, "Everyone's been moved to safe houses, I can't tell you where."

Harry shook his head, "We don't want to know, it'll compromise them."

Remus looked at Harry proudly, "You're right."

That was hours earlier, both men insisting they cook dinner for the running four while they waited for Kreacher to return. Rebecca sat on a couch a few feet away from the out of tune piano Hermione and Ron sat at.

Ron pecked out the pattern Hermione had shown him roughly, the notes chiming sharply.

"It's a little gentler!" Hermione laughed and held her hand over his, "Like this." Ron studied Hermione's face as she gently made the piano sing, the notes flowing out from under her fingers masterfully. Hermione glanced up and saw how he was staring at her and took her hand off, "You try now."

Ron put his hand back to the ivory keys and played exactly how he had the first time. Rebecca had Dumbledore's locket in her hands, though she no longer stared into its swirly depths. It had no picture, only questions. A thump from the hall made them jump to attention, Harry the first out. Kreacher was on Mundungus Fletcher's back, another house elf hooked on his leg.

"Harry Potter!" Dobby cried. "So long it's been!"

Mundungus fell forward with a clatter and a grunt, Kreacher picking up the broom from the wall that Ron had held up to beat him with only hours earlier and thumped Mundungus roughly. "Kreacher, as requested, brings the thief." 

Mundungus' wand shot out as Hermione cast it away from him, catching it in the air easily. Mundungus sneered at them, "What you playin' at? Settin' a pair of bleedin' house elves on me?"

Dobby hopped up onto the table as Mundungus slipped into the dining room and began to talk. "Dobby was only trying to help. Dobby saw Kreacher in Diagon Alley and thought, which Dobby thought was curious." Hermione, Rebecca, and Harry forming a triangle that closed in slowly as Dobby spoke on. "T-Then Dobby heard Kreacher say Potter! Dobby knows two Potters, both good! Dobby had to help then, with the thief-"

"I'm no thief!" Mundungus barked, "You foul little git!" The short, portly man made a move to hit Dobby but saw how four hands in the room went to wands. "I'm a purveyor of rare and wondrous objects."

Sirius threw open the window from the kitchen to the dining room and tilted his head, his wand tucked into the messy bun his hair was tied up in to cook. "You're a thief, Dung. Everyone knows it."

Dobby ran forward, jumping onto the counted and shook their hands happily. Remus smiled widely to the eager house elf, "Smart trainers, Dobby. Very smart, indeed."

Mundungus, now cornered by the children as Remus and Sirius continued on as a rapt audience, shouted now. "Listen, I-I panicked that night! Can I help it if Mad-Eye fell off his broom?!"

Ron stepped forward and puffed his chest out, his wand in hand. "Tell the truth, when you turned this place over, did you find a locket?"

Rebecca held it out for him to see, recognition flashing across Mundungus' face. "He did! Where is it?"

"Is it valuable?" Mundungus asked before shaking his head. "Practically gave it away. There I was, flogging me wares in Diagon Alley when some Ministry hag asks for me license! Said she's minded to lock me up, nearly did too." Mundungus looked at the copy of the locket again. "That is, if she hadn'a taken a fancy to that necklace. Gaudy witch, pink from head to toe." 

Rebecca's hand fell to her side. "No..."

"Oh yeah, she was a right terror. Kept going on like cough, cough." Mundungus squeaked a little throat cough that only could belong to one person.

"The pink demon." Rebecca breathed.

*******************************************

<3


	21. CHAPTER 16

**"Umbridge." Rebecca muttered over her plate.** "Couldn't be another insufferable bi-"

"That'll do." Remus pointed at the plate in front of her. "Eat those vegetables. I had to, you have to."

Rebecca took a forkful of green beans and listened to Harry and Sirius' conversation more attentively. "Now we know where the locket is, we've got to go and get it." Harry stabbed his fork into his dinner. "The bloody question is how."

Sirius nodded his head, thinking. "You've got to get into the Ministry, that's how."

Hermione looked up quickly, "We need to get into the Ministry." 

Ron didn't look away from his plate. "He jus' 'aid 'at."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his full mouth, "We need to get into the Ministry...as Ministry workers."

Rebecca's fork froze in the air, catching Hermione's eyes understandingly. "You are a genius."

Remus' grip tightened on his fork until it snapped, "Will someone tell us what's going on?" He shouted, sliding his chair back and looming over the table before switching back to the Remus they all knew. "I-I'm sorry." He stood up and left the room quickly, embarrassed at such an outburst.

Sirius looked to the four apologetically, "We're coming up on a moon, he didn't mean to-"

"It's alright." Harry said, looking out the door worriedly. "Maybe you should check on him."

Sirius tapped the table, "Leave the plates, we'll get them. It's probably for the best anyway." Sirius laid a hand on top of Harry's and ruffled his hair. "The less who know your plans, the less chance of anything happening."

Ron turned to Hermione after Sirius left and tilted his head, "We have a plan?"

*******************************************

"This is not a plan." Ron muttered next to Rebecca as they looked down at the four unconscious Ministry workers. "This is a death sentence."

"It's the plan, Ron." Rebecca snapped, plucking hairs from the three men as Hermione stared down at the woman before plucking a single blonde hair.

"It's a good plan, it just has to work." Hermione reached into her bag and took out four glass vials. "Remember what we said, don't talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary. We have to try and act normal."

Rebecca plopped her hair in and swirled the potion around, "Their normal though, don't act like yourselves. Do what everyone else is doing." 

Hermione nodded, "If we do that, with a bit of luck we'll get inside. Then..."

Rebecca drank from the vial and grimaced. "Then it gets tricky."

"Correct!" Hermione finished drinking from her own potion. The boys looked at each other, concerned at how in sync the girls were and confused from the finishing of sentences. "This is mental!" Hermione cried out with a strange tone, like she was about to burst into laughter.

"Completely!" Rebecca agreed as she felt the changes begin to take place. 

Ron cleared his throat and raised his vial to his mouth, "Let's rein it in, we've got a horcrux to find." 

Rebecca, opening her eyes and finding that her glasses now impaired her vision rather than corrected it, slipped them into Hermione's bag with Harry's. The man she took the shape of didn't carry identification, nor a nametag. Outside, the street was busy again and an uncharacteristically long line to the loo went down the sidewalk.

"That'll be where we go in," Harry muttered. "You've got to go to the other one, Hermione."

"Mafalda." Hermione corrected. "The name's Mafalda, Albert. Good luck."

Rebecca looked around the disgusting bathroom and swore to herself, "Shoulda picked a bloody woman."

"That's what I say!" The man next to her crowed and knocked her roughly. Rebecca grit her teeth at the lewdness and stepped forward, she and Harry next to go into the stalls that people entered and didn't exit. Ron had entered already, though he was holding that line up. The stall unlocked itself and Rebecca and Harry stepped into the grimy stall.

Ron hoisted himself up over the divider, knowing Harry and Rebecca wouldn't know how to get in. "You've got to flush yourself in, it's bloody disgusting!"

There was a harsh pounding on the doors to their stalls and Rebecca stepped up onto the toilet seat before stepping into the water of the toilet bowl. She reached up for the chain and took a deep breath before pulling it and finding herself spinning through a tube-like sensation similar to apparating.

She opened her eyes in a fireplace within the Ministry's entry and stepped into the river of walking people before finding a familiar blonde head standing in front of the newest statue adorning the center of Wizard politics. "Not now, _Mafalda."_ Rebecca hissed, "You will tear this statue down one day, but not today."

Hermione stared at it in horror, "Muggles...in their rightful place." The newest statue was gruesome and propaganda-like in its imagery. Witches and wizards propped up on a slab of stone that was crushing Muggles who distorted their faces in grimaces and cries of pain.

Harry and Ron met up behind them and Ron whispered nervously, "I'm starting to freak out a bit."

Rebecca turned around and straightened her shoulders, though they were really the shoulders of the unknown man she was impersonating. "We're wasting time. We've got no idea how long this batch will last. We need to get a move on." She turned on her heel and took of towards the elevator that arrived, planning on taking it and seeing where she ended up.

The others followed her, drawing from her determination. The elevator's gate had just begun to close when a man caught it and threw it back open. "Cattermole!" Yaxley shouted, one of the Death Eaters Rebecca recognised from the Department of Mysteries. "It's still raining in my office!" Ron looked up, he'd assumed the body of Reginald Cattermole. "That's two days now!"

Ron cleared his throat, "Have you tried an umbrella?"

Yaxley stared at him unenthused. "You do realise I'm going downstairs, don't you, Cattermole?"

Ron gulped, the threat evident. "Downstairs?"

Yaxley nodded once, "To interrogate your wife. Now, if my wife's blood status were in doubt, and the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing...I'd make that a priority. You have one hour."

Yaxley let the elevator close again and it shot backwards, making the four of them reach up and catch handles before they fell forward. Ron looked around wildly, "What am I going to do? My wife's all alone downstairs!"

Harry looked at Ron a long moment. "You don't have a wife, Ron."

"Oh, right." Ron sighed in relief. "Now how do I stop it raining?"

The elevator stopped abruptly. "Try 'finite incantatem.'" Hermione told him as the gate opened. Ron made no move to exit. 

Rebecca reached forward and nudged him out and tried to reassure him. "If we don't find Umbridge in the hour, we'll come back here and have to come back another day."

Ron turned around to agree, but the elevator had already gone. It stopped on another floor, though none of them had asked for it. Rebecca glanced at the sign labelling the floor's contents and looked back to Harry and Hermione before stepping out. "I'll take this one, if it's the Minister's floor, it'll have her office, too."

Harry nodded and grabbed Rebecca's arm as she passed him. "Be careful."

"Thought I'd be stupid." Rebecca gave him a wink so familiar, he could see her face doing it and not the bearded man she had the body of. Harry and Hermione continued down the elevator's path while Rebecca walked like she had a purpose. She turned up a long corridor with names on every plaque, grinning when she saw the familiar 'Dolores Umbridge, Snr. Undersecretary to the Minister' Rebecca tapped her wand to the metal and slipped into the door as the letters rearranged themselves into 'I am an ugly toad.'

The office was pink as ever, though a whirring caught Rebecca's attention. Umbridge had the audacity, the nerve, to hang up Moody's enchanted eye like it was a trophy. Rebecca paralysed the eye and jammed it into her pocket, not going to let his memory be disgraced like that. It deserved the burial his body never got. Rebecca locked the door behind her and went to Umbridge's desk, not knowing how long she would have to glean as much information as she could.

_Muggle-Born Registration Committee, 10:00_

Underneath, one of the posters with she and Harry's picture and wanted status. Rebecca plucked a quill off Umbridge's desk and signed, _To my number one fan, RJ_

Rebecca checked the watch on the man's wrist and thought back to the committee meeting Umbridge would be at. "Well, late is my calling card..." Rebecca opened up the locket around her neck, the gold one with the picture of her family, and pulled out the small pill-like shape that was nestled inside safely. "Always knew a Pocket-Tornado would be handy."

Rebecca tossed it over her shoulder and left the office to imminent messiness, enchanting the door to keep the noise of destruction coming from inside from seeping into the hall before heading back to the elevator she'd come from.

*******************************************

The elevator climbed up first, Rebecca unable to figure out how to make it take her back down. A dripping man entered the elevator that wished her good morning. Rebecca stared at him, waiting for recognition that didn't come. "Ron, it's me. Rebecca."

Awareness jumped onto Ron's face, "Rebecca! I forgot, the beard confused me."

Rebecca ran a hand down it and frowned, "I'm not a fan either. You get the rain to stop?"

The elevator stopped again, still not where Rebecca was trying to get. Harry stepped into the elevator and looked around before Ron could answer, "Hermione's still there?"

"Still where?" Ron demanded.

"The courtrooms...with Umbridge." Harry pushed the button Rebecca had yet to try and the elevator launched into motion. 

Rebecca tittered, "That's good then." Harry eyed her with a stink. "What? It's not like she'll know until she goes back to her office!"

The elevator stopped and the gate opened before Harry could really get into a scolding about losing focus. The three men filed out orderly, taking on the roles that they'd assumed. Two guards had a raving man between them, "No! There's been a mistake! I'm a half-blood, my father worked here for thirty years! William Aldrich! He always wore his coat inside out! Take me back, there's been a mistake!"

Rebecca put her head higher, her hand reaching for her wand. "Not yet." Harry stepped on her foot. "We have to get the locket."

Rebecca fell behind Ron and caught Hermione's eye as they entered the courtroom at the end of the hall. Umbridge was sitting at the same seat Cornelius Fudge had when Harry and Rebecca faced the entirety of the Wizengamot before fifth year, her patronus played on the podium around her. Umbridge cleared her throat and addressed the mostly empty room like there was an audience, "Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?"

The woman in the trial chair answered, "Yes."

"Of 27 Chislehurst Gardens, Great Tolling, Evesham?"

"Yes."

Harry looked up and felt the humming in the room, Rebecca feeling the same thing. The feeling that they'd felt around the basin in the cave where a horcrux had been. "It's here." Harry whispered.

Umbridge continued to read off the paper in front of her, "Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred? Wife to Reginald?"

Rebecca whispered for Harry to look at Umbridge. There, around her neck, was the locket Regulus had died for. Mary turned to the three men in the doorway and called for her husband, "Reg?"

Harry acted on instinct and grabbed Ron's shoulder like he had been bringing him to the session, tossing him towards his wife in the middle of the room. Yaxley sat in his chair cockily, smirking at the wet appearance of Reginald Cattermole.

"Thank you, Albert." Umbridge narrowed her eyes at Rebecca. "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure why you're here, Witherson."

Rebecca cleared her throat, scrambling for an excuse and finding one jumping to mind. "Didn't know if Cattermole was going to squirrel up a fight, Albert expressed a smatterin' of concern."

Harry nodded, "Someone once told me the best safety is preparing theoretically, so I prepared as such."

Umbridge nodded and turned back to the paper in front of her, "Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" She waited for the woman to answer yes again. "A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry, Mrs Cattermole. Is this that wand?" Umbridge lifted up a wand, staring down at the woman like she'd stared down at the students she'd tortured. "Would you please tell the court from which witch or wizard you took this wand?"

Ron's wife-who-wasn't-his-wife stared up at Umbridge confused and scared, "I-I got it in Diagon Alley, from Ollivander's when I was eleven." Her voice broke as she past the point of overwhelmed that could be handled without tears, "It chose me."

Umbridge smiled a terrible smile and Rebecca watched Harry start circling the courtroom towards Umbridge. Rebecca knew that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had getting the locket under control. Rebecca knew that she had to do something...drastic.

Back in the hall to the elevator, Rebecca turned in the direction the two guards had taken the man accused of impure blood. She didn't have to look very hard, there was only one door under watch and cries seeped out through the bars over the door's little window.

"Wotch 'ou wan' down 'ere?" The guard asked with a thick scouse accent. "'Ou ain't 'pposed to-"

Rebecca stunned the guard at the door. "I want the keys." Rebecca answered, ripping them from the guard's belt roughly. She looked into the door and found that it was packed with bodies, men, women, even a few children. Footsteps echoed down the hall and Rebecca wasn't left with any other choice, she unlocked the door and dragged the guard in before ducking down and holding her finger to her lips for the Muggle borns in the room to be silent. It was another guard who had come down the hall and, at the sight of the unguarded door, he sighed angrily. "Stupid bastard always takes double breaks." The guard kicked the door roughly, "I'm not doin' the work of two men, not anymore!" He shouted.

It occurred to Rebecca that the fearful faces that looked up at her were because they had no idea that she wasn't a Ministry worker who'd done who-knows-what to them. After the guard had retreated far enough, Rebecca raised her wand up. The room ducked and cowered.

"No, no, it's okay." Rebecca hated how even though she was trying to come off as reassuring, it came off intimidating from such a burly frame. "I'm not...whoever this is." Rebecca looked around the room so that they knew she was talking to them all. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Who are you then if you're not him?" A woman glared at her. "Is this another trick to get us to confess? I didn't steal any magic!"

Rebecca shook her head and looked out the window. "No, it's not a trick. I'm...Who I am isn't important. I'm here to help, we're just going to do this carefully." Rebecca grinned and started ordering them to group by family, pushing those who were alone towards groups they looked similar enough to. "You're going to line up and march down the hall, crying would probably help. I get you to the elevator, you take one and go straight to the Muggle Artifacts level. You find Arthur Weasley's office. There'll be a fireplace in the back under a homemade blanket, you hear me? Powder's in the flowerpot on the mantle. Get out of here."

"We're going to get killed. We should just stay here!" One man called out.

"Yeah, they're not going to kill us all!"

Rebecca eyed the hecklers with a glare that silenced them instantly. "You can stay if you want, but they _will_ kill you. Might not be now, might not be tomorrow. But how long do you want to play that game?" Rebecca turned back to the door and grabbed the shoulder of the man closest to her, "You lot first, look sad."

Harry had no idea where Rebecca had gone and he couldn't worry about that now, not when the locket was so close. Umbridge continued on her tirade, "Wands only choose witches and you are not a witch. You lie." 

"I am a witch!" Mary cried out. "Tell them Reg, tell them what I am!" Ron stood silently, gawking around the room in a panic. "Tell them, Reg!"

Harry stopped in front of the podium and dropped his wand out of his sleeve. Umbridge turned her attention to him, "What on earth are you doing, Albert?" Hermione braced herself at Umbridge's side, her hand tightening on her wand too.

"You're lying, Dolores." Harry spoke darkly. Rebecca, bringing one of the last handful of groups to the elevator, reached up and touched her face. She could feel the muscles rippling as the potion wore off. Rebecca ran down the hall to herd the last group without caution, their disguise was down and there was no time. 

"Let's go, everyone that's left!" She hissed, waving them on. She was trailing the too big clothes behind her comically, looking like a child playing dress up.

One of the last women to leave, a mother with her child, grabbed her arm tightly. "You don't know what you've done." Rebecca pushed her into the elevator and went to close the gate, the woman blocking it. "You've saved us all. You will have always have a place to rest, if you find yourself in Caterham." Rebecca paled at the sound of the town, the town where she'd lived before the Weasley's. Rebecca reached forward and forced the gate past the woman's foot. "You find yourself there, you look for the house with a four candles in its window. Understand?"

"If I say yes, will you take this bloody lift to safety?!" Rebecca looked over her shoulder worried. "Yes, then! Now go!"

Rebecca turned away from the elevator and pulled her pants up with one hand, the other holding her wand in front of her as she tore back towards the courtroom. She made it back through the doors just as Hermione ripped the necklace from the now unconscious Umbridge, Death Eaters sprinkled around the room in similar states of consciousness, or rather, the lack thereof.

"Damn!" Rebecca backtracked as the roof the the courtroom disappeared and a flood of dementors descended. "Come on!" Ron was turning back into Ron, Hermione still Mafalda. Their feet slapped against the tile floor loudly, only stopping when their backs were against the far wall of the lift's door. Harry slammed the door shut and pushed them farther back, his arms held out to shield them the best he could.

The dementor's hands fought to get through the metal gate only a moment before the ones that were closest began to feed off of them. Harry raised his wand and flourished it expertly, _"Expecto patronum!"_ A burst of white cleared the elevator door and Mary looked in horror as the last two transformed into their natural states.

"Wh-Who-Where is Reginald?" Mary asked as the elevator slowed. 

"It's..." Ron shook his head, "It's a long story. Listen, go home, get your kids, get out of the country. Do you understand?" Mary didn't move. Ron grabbed the woman by the shoulder and shook her once, "Do you understand?!"

Mary nodded and kissed Ron deeply, separating from his as the elevator door was opened by a cautious Rebecca. "Move with purpose and no one will notice." Rebecca hissed, slowly striding out of the lift. 

Harry tried to follow suit, Hermione firmly at his side. Ron was behind them, his shoes squeaking noisily from the water in Yaxley's office. Eyes passed over them quickly before doubling back, the faces familiar. Harry and Rebecca had, in fact, graced the cover of more Undesirable posters than most.

"It's-That's Harry Potter!" Whispers began before blatant calls came, "And that's her, Rebecca Potter!"

Rebecca walked on, pretending they were talking about someone else before the army of sprinting security guards turned the corner. "Run!" She shouted, launching forward. She'd rolled the waist of the pants far enough to not have to hold them up and it was good that she had, without a free hand she wouldn't have been able to knock away the hands the grabbed for her and cast distractionary-based spells. "Today is that day, Hermione!" She called back.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Yaxley who burst out of a lift with his wand raised. Hermione turned to the statue, the statue that was a stone example of everything wrong with the Wizarding world. _"Bombarda magnifica!"_ The statue exploded, the explosion sending some of their capturers ary and a cloud of smoke that Yaxley dissipated instantly.

Harry knocked over a table of posters for their capture and sent them after Yaxley, finding that Rebecca had steered them towards the fireplaces that would take them out of the Ministry. The posters didn't dissuade Yaxley who was gaining on Ron at the back of their line. Rebecca was so busy looking over her shoulder at them that she didn't see the witch that had stepped into her path obliviously and tumbled into a pile with her. Rebecca scrambled up as the first of the fireplace gates slammed shut. Harry caught the back of her suit's jacket and dragged her the last few feet with him, the two of them diving to whatever destination they were off to.

Rebecca, who had had her face against various parts of the witch she tackled and Harry, who was too busy making sure Rebecca made it through with him, didn't see Yaxley grab onto Ron as they apparated away.

Yaxley and Ron fought viciously the few seconds they were interdimensional, Yaxley eventually careening Ron off course. Rebecca spun about roughly, landing on the crunchy leafed ground with a gasp as the air was forced out of her lungs roughly. Harry landed on top of her and pushed himself to his feet quickly, scooping his wand and the locket off of the ground triumphantly. Their mission had succeeded, they had done well, they had-

"Oh god," Ron gasped. "Oh god," He wasn't able to say anything else at the moment. Rebecca turned onto her side and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Shh, shh, now. It's alright. It's okay." Hermione kneeled over Ron and was applying pressure to the wounds that bled quickly. "You're going to be okay."

The panic in her voice cut through Rebecca's pain and Rebecca forced herself to her knees, making her way to Hermione as Hermione called out for Harry to get her bag. "There's a bottle labelled 'Essence of Dittany."

Rebecca couldn't believe what was in front of her. Ron had splinched himself severely, the skin on his arm torn like ribbon from his shoulder to his elbow. Ron sobbed and shook, his body overloaded in pain. As Harry searched for the Dittany, Rebecca grabbed Ron's head. He looked up to her, "It hurts, it hurts!"

Rebecca nodded, trying to exude calmness despite the fear that grabbed her soul. "Harry's getting it, okay? Hermione's going to fix you right up and you're going to be just fine."

Ron closed his eyes, tears streaming down his nose as he turned his head away from his arm like putting more distance between his brain and his arm would lessen the agony. "Unstopper it," Hermione directed as she took the dropper from Harry shakily. Hermione dropped it along, warning Ron that it would sting.

"I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place." Harry stated, looking around.

Rebecca continued to keep her focus on Ron. "We were!" Hermione didn't look away from Ron's arm, trying to focus the potion in the deepest, most angry looking parts. "We were but then Yaxley had hold of my arm and-And I knew that if he saw where we were it would have brought the attention back onto the others."

Rebecca brushed the hair of Ron's forehead as he settled, the Dittany providing a dulled relief to the pain. "Where are we?" She asked. The potion had worked the best it would, the mess of Ron's arm reduced to a collection of scabs and scar tissue. Hermione stared at her bloodied hands and didn't answer, instead shakily climbing to her feet and walking a few meters away. 

_"Protego totalum."_ Hermione cast before waving her wand in a diagonal strike. _"Salvio hexia."_

"What're you doing?" Harry asked, standing next to Ron and Rebecca and going to do the same on the other side of them. 

"We don't want another visit like on Shaftesbury Avenue, we need protection." Hermione repeated the spells and went to the second side of the square she and Harry put up around Rebecca and the still Ron. "Rebecca, you get started on the tent."

Rebecca set Ron's head down gently and lifted Hermione's bag with a sense of dread. This bag had already saved one of their lives once and they'd only been on the road days. What would they do when it was empty?

*******************************************

"Clearly, this isn't going to work." Rebecca picked the locket up off the ground as Harry stormed away. They'd been casting spells on it all morning after they'd slept in an attempt to destroy it and had only resulted in one rageful Potter.

"CLEARLY!" Harry shouted over his shoulder.

Rebecca picked it up off the ground and tossed it from hand to hand, the metal warm to the touch from the array of fire hexes Harry had tested. She sighed and lifted the golden chain around her neck, the locket settling on her chest with a sick weight. 

"What are you doing?" Hermione demanded, her hand on her hip. Ron watched in silence, still muted from his splinching. His arm rest in a sling.

"We have to keep it safe." Rebecca answered. "At least until we learn how to destroy it."

"Seems strange." Ron looked at Rebecca concerned. "Dumbledore sends you off to destroy these horcruxes but not how to destroy them. Doesn't it bother you?"

Rebecca sighed and didn't answer, making her way back to the seat she'd occupied against the base of a tree throughout the morning. The radio crackled to life at half five, shocking the four of them into a panic until they realised what it was. Harry looked to Rebecca observationally as three familiar voices poured out. 

_"This here's Potterwatch, you've got me, River."_ Rebecca leaned closer at Lee's voice. _"You've got me, Jupiter."_ Ron rolled his eyes at George's voice, only George willing to pick such a git-like name. _"And then there's me..."_ Fred's voice brought the clearing to a stand-still, Rebecca's breath pausing, _"Rapier. A moment of silence for those deaths..."_ Rebecca remembered criticising Fudge's daily announcements before, declaring that radio personalities needed to have names that exuded attraction, her example 'Rapier.' She didn't think Fred had remembered that.

The programme went on in a blur and was over far too soon, in Rebecca's opinion. They'd gone over the effect of the battles in the Muggle world with 'Royal,' or Kingsley. They'd touched on Pals of Potter, with 'Romulus,' or Remus. At the end, Fred and George took over and ran through 'News on Chief Death Eater.' This segment included Voldemort's most recent movements and which regions should be extra vigilant in safety and precautions.

 _"And that's Potterwatch for now. Keep safe out there in the wide world, wherever you're listening from."_ Fred spoke the final segment and Rebecca wondered if he was talking to the world or just to her. _"These are dark times, that's true..."_ Fred cleared his throat, Sirius grabbing his arm in the room they were broadcasting in. _"Don't take our sunshine away."_ The radio cut out and Rebecca sat in front of it a long time, knowing that he was, in fact, talking to her.

"Eat." Hermione said, both boys having forced her to talk to Rebecca instead of them. The air around her was laden with anger. "You have to."

"I don't technically 'have to.'" Rebecca took the food. Hermione didn't say anything but walked back to where she had been collecting wood for the fire. Rebecca stared at the dark can in front of her, dark thoughts crossing her mind. Ron had retreated into tent earlier and Harry mulled over the issue of needing to destroy something that seemed indestructible. Rebecca had spent the hours since the broadcast spinning the ring on her finger brooding, all working towards the peak of her anger. _"You know the spell."_ Voldemort's voice whispered in her head. _"You could make them hurt, hurt like you do."_ Rebecca jumped up and shook her head. _"You want to though, you want them to-"_

Rebecca balled up her fists and turned in a circle. "Get out of my head!" She shouted, birds only flying up out of the trees within the silenced sphere they'd created. "Get out!" Harry reached for Rebecca and she swung at him with quickly, "Don't!"

Harry dodged and tried to reason with her, "This-This isn't you, Rebecca. Let's take a-" Her fist whistled past him as she punched wildly at him again. "Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Rebecca shouted, jumping at him and forcing him to the ground before he flipped them both and pinned her hands above her head. "This-This is wrong! Let me go and fight, do something! Don't just sit there and-"

Hermione reached down and grabbed the end of the chain from around Rebecca's neck, pulling it up off her head. The effect was instant, Harry watched the fight leave her eyes. Tears welled in her eyes and Harry let go of her wrists. She climbed to her feet quickly and walked away, not saying anything. Hermione slipped it on, "We'll have to take it in turns, obviously." Harry went to find her. "Don't, Harry." Hermione shook her head, "She'll come to you."

Harry climbed into the tent, laying down as Ron flipped through the stations to wait for the next Potterwatch.

Hermione was right, as Harry was used to her being. Rebecca sat next to him at breakfast the next morning, no trace of who she had been the day before. "I'm sorry about that." She said softly. "I didn't mean it."

"Wanting to fight me or..." Harry relaxed as Rebecca smiled a moment.

"Both." 

Harry put his arm around her and sighed, "It's alright, it's something the locket does. Hermione's already had to give it up." Harry shook his head, "By all means, let's have a locket that makes us evil. What could go wrong with that?"

*******************************************

Ron needed days of recovery time and he spent it with the radio on at all times, no matter if it was Potterwatch or not. It quickly became an issue. Harry wanted to not hear the static all the time. Ron wanted to hear if there was any news. 

Harry crossed the tent sneakily a few days later, the locket around his neck making it so that he either turned the radio off while Ron dozed or he commit an act of violence. _"...newly appointed headmaster of Hogwarts, Severus Snape...students must conform or face punishments by the two Death Eaters now on the staff..."_

Rebecca and Hermione were walking the edge of their shields, chatting softly. "We need to get a move on, you think he'll be ready tomorrow?"

Hermione considered it, "I don't know, but we do need to move."

Rebecca turned the conversation to the locket, "You don't have any ideas on how to destroy it?"

Hermione looked at Rebecca amused, "You do know that I don't actually know everything, right?"

Rebecca shook her head, "That's a lie." Rebecca's head shot up, a stick snapping in the distance. "You hear that?"

Hermione nodded and withdrew her wand. As long as they stayed in the boundaries of their protections, they were invisible and couldn't be heard. But, keeping others out proved harder. The only thing they were able to do was cast charms that would deter others from entering. Fenrir and two other Death Eaters crest the hill and Rebecca felt Hermione's hand grip her arm tightly.

In Fenrir's arms was a witch. They walked farther away, but Fenrir lurched to a stop and dropped the girl onto the ground like she was a sack of potatoes. "What's that?" He lifted his snout-like nose to the air and sniffed deeply. "What's that smell?"

Rebecca and Hermione stopped breathing as Fenrir turned back and marched in front of them, his face inches from theirs. 

*******************************************

<3


	22. CHAPTER 17

**"What's that smell?"** Fenrir repeated, his face so close to the girls that they watched his nostrils flare.

"There is no bleedin' smell!" One of the other Death Eaters sighed angrily. Fenrir had done this twice already, once for a rabbit and once for a piss. "Can we please keep on task!"

Fenrir glared at the Death Eater that was dwarfed in comparison, though clearly a higher rank as Fenrir said nothing and picked the girl back up. 

Hermione and Rebecca stood in silence a moment as Harry joined them. "Good to know the enchantments work." Rebecca laughed nervously. 

"He could smell us." Hermione's nerves manifested in misty eyes as opposed to the nervous laughter that continued to spill out of Rebecca. "I'll check on Ron, we need to go."

*******************************************

Rebecca and Harry sat by the fire, Rebecca holding her hand out for Harry to hand it over after he snapped at her for 'breathing too loudly.' "Thank you." Harry muttered.

Rebecca waved his words away and turned back to the fire. Hermione stepped out of the tent and didn't look like she had promising news. "I don't think he's strong enough to apparate. Not yet."

"We'll have to go on foot then." Harry stood up and brushed his jeans off. "First light, we've got to make some headway."

Hermione dropped into the space previously occupied by Harry. "You're alright with that, aren't you?"

Rebecca looked up confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hermione shook her head, "Never mind then."

Rebecca didn't realise how her correct her words were the day before as the sun steadily climbed over their backs as they walked. Hermione really did know everything. Walking in the woods, the crunching of leaves under their feet, it was just like when William had abandoned her.

And the bloody locket wasn't helping. _"You know, if you'd just kept you buckle on like a good girl, she'd be alive."_ Rebecca shook her head, trying to dislodge the darkness. _"If you'd done that, maybe you wouldn't have deserved everything after. All of the-"_

"No." She spoke aloud, pulling the necklace off so quickly that it got caught on the end of her hair. "It's not true I-" Ron reached up with his unslinged arm, Hermione having mentioned to Harry and Ron that this next stretch wasn't likely to be an easy one. 

"I can wear it a while." Ron tried to untangle it without pulling but wasn't able to with one hand. Harry reached over and deftly undid it in seconds before hurrying ahead to Hermione's side to talk about the direction they were headed in.

That seemed to solve their problems for a while. The radio Ron kept tucked into his sling crackled to life at quarter past two when they were making their way across a plain of tall green grass and Rebecca listened attentively.

 _"...And now for the names of the missing. These are confirmed, but at least it's a short list today."_ George's voice spoke solemnly before Fred took over. _"Jason and Alison Denbright. Bella, Jake, and Madge Farley. Dean Thomas."_

Rebecca looked up quickly at the name of their classmate and felt a wave of despair try to force itself over the mental walls she learnt to put up when the radio was on. "Poor Seamus." Rebecca told Ron.

Ron didn't hear her, he was too busy glaring ahead. Rebecca thought it was because of the sun. She had no idea it was because Harry was drinking from the bottle Hermione handed him. The going went slowly. They had to stop twice for Death Eaters flying in the sky above them: Once in a rickety old barn and the other in the mouth of a foul-smelling drain. By the time they found themselves in the abandoned motorhome park, they were all exhausted.

They walked on though. When they were stumbling more often than they were stepping, Hermione mentioned stopping for the day. The tent was set up under the bridge in the near distance, water as far as they could see. "Is this the ocean?" Rebecca asked in wonder and slight terror. It was easily ten of the Black Lake's and that had been the biggest body of water she'd ever seen. The dark, bobbing mass of water in front of them made her feel microscopic.

Hermione laughed at that, a true, honest laugh that brought a smile to the other's faces too. "No, this isn't the ocean. There aren't bridges over the ocean."

Rebecca grinned, realising how wrong she was. Harry followed her to the edge, both of them talking animatedly. The promise of dinner had them in a good mood.

"They've got no bloody idea where to go, do they." Ron stated as Hermione changed his bandages. 

Hermione looked over her shoulder at the twins before turning back to Ron and glancing at his eyes and shaking her head, "None of us do, Ron."

*******************************************

"I know somewhere we can go." Rebecca spoke dejectedly. It had been two weeks of walking and they hadn't had a single lead, only arguments as the locket filled them with rage before their turns passed.

"Where?" Ron demanded. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Rebecca glanced at the locket around Ron's neck, "You want to pass that on or something before I explain?"

Ron rolled his eyes and tore it off, flinging onto the ground. "I want to know what we're doing!"

Harry picked up the locket and brushed it off before slipping it on and looking to Rebecca calmly, "Where?" 

"Caterham." Rebecca sighed, "One of the women from the Ministry, from the Muggleborns I got to the elevators, she said we can find refuge in the house with four candles in its windows."

"Why wait until now?" Harry asked, still calm. Rebecca would have had a reason if she didn't share this immediately, he knew that much.

She sat silent a moment, finding the dirt she dug into with the toes of her trainers very interesting. "It's where I lived before." She said after a while.

Ron looked up in horror, feeling guilty at his response before. "Then we don't go."

"Well, Ron, unless you want to resort to cannibalism, it's what we've got." Rebecca stood up and walked into the tent, climbing into her bedroll where she stayed for the rest of the night.

 _"Love?"_ Rebecca jumped up, looking around wildly at Fred's voice. No one was in the tent, only her. Her dreams were filled with him and this wasn't the first time they had bled into the few disorienting minutes upon waking. They revolved around the mundane tasks she missed doing with him, like washing up after dinner with him where she'd hand him the washed dishes and he'd peck her cheek before drying each and every item down the the very last spoon. She missed waking up in his arms, to have the ability to study him in the minutes before he woke up. She missed him entirely.

And Rebecca couldn't do a thing about it. She sat up and stretched before stepping out of the tent and finding Hermione and Harry looking over a map. "We need to go east, that'll get us right there." Harry traced a path.

"It'll be best to go south and then over, farther to walk but fewer houses." Hermione went a different way.

Rebecca peeked between them and traced a line that borrowed from both of theirs, starting from the general area Hermione placed them in to the town's name on the map. "Direct is best, we need supplies."

"What makes you think this woman was serious?" Harry asked. "She might have just offered to offer."

"It wasn't like that." Rebecca took the piece of bread Hermione offered her. All their bread was stale, but it was one of the last things they had. "She'll help us." Rebecca bit into it and looked at the map one more time. "We're only an hour, hour and a half away if we move quickly. Ron ready?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder to where Ron stood overlooking the water. "Yeah, he's ready."

*******************************************

"Never thought I'd come back here." Rebecca addressed the group as they turned onto the main street. **(Caterham, while an actual English town, is only the same in name. I needed something English-y and that was one that caught my eye. So if you find yourself tempted to Google pictures, it's not the same.)** "Can't say I missed it."

Ron looked around unsure of what to say. He'd lived in the country his whole life and, aside from the fact that sometimes it was horribly boring, at least he didn't live here. Rubbish blew down the streets from overflowing bins that never got pulled back up to the houses. Every house had at least one broken window, more having crooked gates and almost all having discarded, rusting items in the yards. One house had a toilet right on the front grass!

"I..." Rebecca turned left, her feet following the same path they had for so many years on the way home from school. "I have to stop somewhere first."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, running ahead to be next to her. "Just because Miss Figg said he didn't-"

"I have to." Rebecca looked ahead, her heart beating quicker. "We need something." She didn't say another word, Hermione and Ron looking at each other nervously as she reverted to someone they'd never seen before. Rebecca's shoulders tightened and she slunk lower, her steps changed, her feet rolled from heel to toe methodically so that her steps became next to silent. Rebecca stopped humming as she tended to do and jerked to a stop in front of the grimiest, most rundown house of the block. No lights were on, but it was mid-morning, that was to be expected.

Rebecca held her wand in hand and stepped onto the walk to the house unsurely. She still felt something drawing her in, but the house brought a lot of darkness with it. Rebecca stepped up the first two stone steps and held her wand out over the jagged one that had cut her leg a lifetime ago. _"Incompti tenuem."_

The stone smoothed out, no evidence that there had ever been the sharp divot from before. The front door had a chain on it, but it hung unlocked. It didn't matter if William hadn't been there in so long, someone clearly had. Rebecca pushed the door open and looked around the house of her youth. The furniture was all still there, dust piled over everything except for a corner that was filled with old trash showing that someone must have squatted in the house in the years it had been empty. The kitchen was empty too, though it always had been when people lived there anyway. Harry followed Rebecca down the hall, stopping in the doorway of the room she entered and was standing in the middle of.

"Yours?" Harry asked, knowing it was. There were books on every surface, piled on the floor, piled on the dresser. They were old though, all old and torn and bent."Didn't know you liked to read, not like this."

"It was an escape." Rebecca's voice was flat. "I went through bins and donation boxes people would put out. Anything for new stories, new places to imagine myself in." Rebecca sniffed and went to the closet, reaching up to the shelf that she had to use a ladder to reach when she was a kid. "This'll help, at least for a little while." She'd pulled down an old wooden box that she put in Harry's hands and left the room. 

Harry stayed a moment longer, looking over the room and realising that his cupboard didn't seem so bad. Not when this had been an option. He'd lived in a house unwelcome and unliked, she lived in a prison. Harry grabbed her wrist where she stood outside of the kitchen. "What else do you need?"

Rebecca looked around and sighed, "That's all that'll be useful. The rest...Everything else here is done."

Harry and Rebecca joined Hermione and Ron in the kitchen, Rebecca patting the box Harry set on the counter. "I don't want questions." Rebecca eyed them individually. "I won't answer any right now." Rebecca bit her lip and opened the box from her room.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, there were rolls of money inside. Muggle money, but money all the same. "You-"

"No, not here."

Hermione put the box into the bag on her hip and grabbed Rebecca's shoulder, "Let's get out of here. We have four candles to find."

And find them, they did.

The house was on the nicer side of town, grass in its yard and no toilets outside to be seen. Rebecca eased open the side gate quietly before going to the back yard and finding toys strewn about everywhere. Harry knocked on the back door four times, finding a strange symbolism to the number. Four of them, four candles, four knocks. It seemed fitting.

A woman threw open the door and dragged them in before closing the door and locking it tightly. "I knew you'd come." The woman grabbed Rebecca's hands and held them tightly, maternally, "And just in time. I accidently made dinner for seven."

That was how Rebecca found herself sitting at the table with the woman and two wide eyed children who stared as the four of them ate like animals. Had it not been the first hot meal they'd eaten in weeks, Rebecca might have been embarrassed. The woman didn't judge, she just continued to spoon macaroni and sauce into their bowls until they slowed down and eventually sat in a content silence.

"Are they done?" The little girl whispered to her mum. 

Harry chuckled, "Yes, I'm sorry. It's been a-"

"Not a word of apology." The woman, already having told them her name was Annabelle, laughed. "I'm glad to see it! Anything I can do to fuel the resistance."

"The resistance?" Hermione asked.

"That's what you lot are out doing, innit? Resisting?" Annabelle shook her head, "Don't tell me, it'll be best for us all." She turned to her son, "Did you do as I asked, Luca?"

"Yes, mum!" The boy sighed exasperatedly in the cheeky way only kids got away with in front of company, "I'll take them." He grabbed Ron by the unslinged hand and brought them into the living room adjacent to a room decorated with badgers on the walls and more toys. "Mum says you'll sleep in here."

"Hufflepuffs?" Rebecca asked, setting her backpack onto the floor next to one of the sleeping bags on the floor. The food had filled them and left them ready to sleep.

"Staunchly." Annabelle answered from the door, her daughter Gemma on her hip. "My husband-" Annabelle shook her head and dropped the subject. "You came in time, we're off in days for a..." Annabelle cleared her throat, "You'll have to forgive me, I can't-"

"It's alright," Rebecca smiled, Harry already nodding off on the chair he'd sat in to untie his shoes. "We have to be off at first light anyway."

*******************************************

"This is mental." Rebecca took the box Hermione held out to her as she'd asked. "You-You've-"

"I've done what I would want someone to do for my children. Nothing more, nothing less." Annabelle helped Hermione put the rows of canned food into her bag. "It'll just go to waste here anyway."

Rebecca knew that by bringing this back up she was speeding up the explanation she desperately wanted to avoid, but Annabelle had to be repaid in one way or another. "This then, if you insist, we do as well."

Annabelle took the pound notes hesitantly. "You remember what you did for us that day, you hear me?" Annabelle looked out the peephole and turned back to the four in the hall. "You remember that you saved those lives because you could, not because you had to." Annabelle hugged each of them tightly before they snuck out the back door, supplies replenished and breakfast in their stomachs.

Caterham was silent, the mine didn't open until nine and the shops until noon. Hermione had a course planned that would take them off into the wilderness again, slowly making their way back towards the west of England. 

Rebecca had the locket on, it was well past her turn. The others had refused to give her one while they remained in the town that already filled her with negativity, afraid that the locket would be even more potent with preexisting reason.

"You want to know about the money, don't you?" Rebecca's voice was the first to ring out in the air as they stepped off Caterham's last street. "Where I got it from?"

Harry nodded, but Hermione gave him a look and answered for all three. "If you want to, only then."

Rebecca snorted, "Who wants to talk about that?" Rebecca shook her head, "I was seven the first time he'd blown the food budget. Gambling or something like that. Might have been the races...I don't remember." Rebecca wouldn't meet their eyes. "It started with food. Then it was the water. Then it was the heat. He hooked his lines onto the neighbors, solving that, but he'd only buy things to eat for him." 

Ron stared ahead, the idea of any child, let alone someone he'd grown to love living like that filling him with a rage the locket didn't need to cause. 

"I started with lost and found bins. People'd drop their wallets and I'd say nick the cash. When people caught onto that, then I'd just skip the middleman and take from the market. That all...That's all from pockets." Rebecca straightened her back and squared her shoulders. "I may have done the taking, but I was not the one at fault. I was hungry and I was-I wanted..."

"That's fine, we don't need to know." Harry put her arm around her shoulders and walked ahead of Hermione and Ron, talking to Rebecca quietly. 

"Where to now?" Ron asked Hermione.

"This way." Hermione answered vaguely, no one entirely sure where they were going. "Again." 

*******************************************

The food from Annabelle lasted longer than they'd thought, but they rationed carefully to make it stretch as far as it could. Tensions were at an all time high, each of them taking the stress and lack of results in their own way. Rebecca was quiet, quieter than usual. Ron listened to the radio every waking hour. Harry muttered wherever he went, repeating the questions no one could answer. Hermione poured over every book she brought for a solution--For a way to break the horcruxes.

Rebecca was snipping Harry's hair, it had grown tangled and unmanageable. Hermione, sitting on the table in their tent, slapped her hands against it loudly. "Oh my god!" Harry's hands jumped up to the sides of his head, thinking Rebecca had done something horrid. Rebecca gave him a look and left the chair, going to Hermione's side.

"What?" Harry asked.

Hermione held her hand up, "I'll tell you in one minute."

Harry waited ten seconds. "Now?"

Hermione looked up quickly, excitedly. "The Sword of Gryffindor! It's Goblin-made."

Harry glanced at Rebecca, she not showing any understanding either. "Brilliant?"

"You don't understand," Hermione flipped the page of the book she was reading. "Dirt and rust have no effect on the blade. 'It only takes in that makes it stronger.'"

Rebecca stared at Hermione, still not seeing the point. Hermione pointed to Harry and shouted, "You've already destroyed one horcrux, right? Tom Riddle's diary in the Chamber of Secrets!"

Harry was growing frustrated at Hermione's lack of direct explanation. "With a basilisk fang! If you tell me you have one of those in your bloody bag..." Rebecca snorted. Harry looked to her and gave her a small smile. Laughter was rare becoming those days.

"In the Chamber of Secrets you stabbed the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor. Its blade is laden with basilisk venom now."

It dawned on Rebecca and Harry. Harry repeated what Hermione read, "'It only takes in that makes it stronger.'"

"Exactly!" Hermione clapped once and turned the book to Rebecca so that she could read the pages herself.

"It can destroy horcruxes." Harry said to himself. "That's why Dumbledore left it to me in his will."

Rebecca's eyes flitted over the page, seeing the solution Hermione had found. "You are brilliant, Hermione." Rebecca spoke seriously, she held Hermione on a pedestal in her mind.

"I'm highly logical." Hermione tried to brush away the compliment. "I look past extraneous detail to see that which others overlook." 

Rebecca raised an eyebrow and went back to the book. Harry straightened his glasses, "There's only one problem of course-" The light flew out of the lantern, plunging the room into darkness. 

Ron stepped out from the shadows he'd produced, the Deluminator in hand. "The sword was stolen." Ron let the light go back to the room, his voice tinted with a barely suppressed rage. "Yeah, I'm still here. You carry on though, don't let me spoil the fun."

"This isn't fun, Ron." Rebecca looked back down to the book, the light returned.

"Oh! She speaks!" Ron clapped his hands slowly. "Call the bloody paper!"

Harry turned on the bench, "Look, if you've got something to say, don't be shy. But don't be an arse. Becs didn't-"

"Becs?!" Ron laughed harshly. "Since when do you call her that?"

Harry looked to Hermione confused, "It's a nickname? Rebecca, Becca, Becs. It's literally-"

"Don't explain it to me like I'm stupid!" Ron bellowed, making the three at the table jump. "I'm just as smart as-as all of you!"

"No one said you weren't, Ron." Hermione tried to smooth things over. "Maybe you should-"

"No!" Ron shook his head. "Don't! How can you sit there when now we've got another damn thing to find?"

Rebecca didn't look up from the pages she read over. "I thought you knew what you signed up for. Searching. It didn't come with a map, you know."

"Yeah, so did I." Ron shook his head as Rebecca looked up at him. She stood up and slammed the book shut.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what part of this doesn't live up to your expectations?!" She was shouting now too. "Did you think we'd be staying in hotels every night? Finding a horcrux every other day?" Rebecca circled the tent and whirled on Ron, "That we'd be home by Christmas?"

Ron stared at her. "My home." Rebecca froze. "I thought I'd be back at _my_ home." Ron turned on Harry. "I thought after all this time we would have actually achieved something! I thought you knew what you were doing! That the two of you had a plan!" Harry scoffed. Ron laid another layer to the insult. "I thought Dumbledore would have told you something worthwhile!"

Harry stepped to Rebecca's side and glared at Ron, Hermione wavering between the twins and Ron nervously. "I told you everything Dumbledore told me, we both have. And we've already found a horcrux, we-"

"We're as close to destroying it as we are finding another, aren't we?" Ron sneered the words, needling in as Rebecca met his eyes. "What? Got something to say?"

"Ron," Hermione warned. She reached up and tried to get the horcrux out from around his neck. "You wouldn't be saying all this if you hadn't been wearing it all day." 

Ron threw her hands away from him and stared at Rebecca over Hermione's head. "Do you want to know why I listen to that radio every minute it's broadcasting? I have to make sure I don't hear Ginny's name. Or Fred. Or George. Or mum. Or-"

"You think I don't know how that feels?" Rebecca shouted, pointing at Ron. "You think I'm not listening for-"

"NO!" Ron shouted over her. "No, you don't know how that feels! You're parents are dead. Mum and dad, MY MUM AND DAD, aren't yours! You've got one brother and he's with you! My brothers and sister aren't here!" Ron scowled deeply, "You've got a sham of a marriage that-"

Rebecca launched herself past Hermione and landed a fist onto Ron's eye as he jumped backwards and hit her back, his blows--Even fueled by the horcrux--Not enough to get her off of him. Harry linked his arms under Rebecca's and pulled her off as she screamed at Ron, "You ever say that-YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN I'LL KILL YOU! You bloody hear me!" She struggled against Harry harder. "Don't you-I'm not-You..." Rebecca couldn't breathe a moment as her mind went faster than her mouth could follow.

Ron stood up and wiped his bleeding nose with his sleeve and stared at her, both of them already having blackening eyes. "Was anything I said something you hadn't thought before?"

Harry let Rebecca go in shock, Ron had crossed a line. Rebecca stood on her own a minute and she shook, her fists clenched. "Then go!" She finally shouted. "If you want to go be with your family so badly, go!" She wiped at her face, angry tears spilling out. "Go be with your family because you clearly haven't got any here."

Ron took the horcrux off and threw it on the ground, picking his bag up and swinging it over his shoulder roughly. Ron stared down at Hermione, "What about you? Are you coming or are you staying?" Hermione looked to Harry who was in front of Rebecca. "Fine." Ron scoffed, "I get it. I saw you two the other night, you know? You're not as sneaky as you think."

"There isn't anything to see!" Hermione breathed. "That-We're on a mission!" Ron threw the tent flaps open and stormed out. Hermione raced after him, "Where are you going? Ron! Please, come back!"

Harry grabbed Rebecca roughly, tightening his grip as Rebecca tried to pull back. "Listen to me, okay?" Harry waited until Rebecca nodded. "Everything he just said, it was all a lie. It's-You said it best, ages ago. 'Family is who we choose.'"

Rebecca sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve, "We say what we think with the horcrux, Harry."

Harry pulled her into him and whispered the things he thought he'd want to hear, though he didn't think anyone had ever said anything that would cut so deeply before.

*******************************************

_"Salvio hexia."_

_"Repellum muggletum."_

_"Salvio hexia."_

_"Repellum muggletum."_

Rebecca walked in a slow circle on top of the mountain they'd apparated to. Hermione picked the location, needing to get far away from where Ron left them after tying her scarf around one of the trees nearby. Harry tried to get them to speak to him, to speak to each other, but both girls were happy wallowing in their own self-pity and existential issues.

Rebecca had taken to, when she wasn't wearing the horcrux, staring into the locket Fred had chosen. His picture took the left window, one she was incredibly happy she'd taken. He was sitting on the bench outside the Burrow and was giving her the crooked smile that sent her heart racing before he threw his head back and laughed heartily. The other side was a family portrait from the last time Bill and Charlie had been home, but Rebecca didn't look at it. Ron insisted that she go next to him for the picture and he had her arm around her happily, both of them looking to each other before the camera. 

Hermione reached over and flipped the radio on, not sure when that night's Potterwatch was coming on. The broadcasts had grown more random and spaced out as their weeks on the road had turned into months. Music started pouring out, filling the tent with melody. Harry pushed himself up from his chair at the table and squatted in front of the girls, "May I?" He cheekily held up his hands.

Hermione looked at his outstretched palm a minute before grabbing it. Hermione caught Rebecca as Harry pulled her up and dragged her to her feet, too. Harry gave Rebecca a small smile and pulled the locket out from around her neck before setting it on the bed next to them. The song continued to play and Harry pulled them side to side, nowhere near anything resembling a beat. Harry grinned and saw a flicker of amusement in Rebecca's eyes, "C'mon, you've got to show me how. I never did figure this part out."

Hermione laughed, startling all three of them. "I was just thinking about the Yule ball...Remember how bruised Parvati's toes were?" Rebecca's laugh joined Hermione.

Harry grinned and continued to pull them so that they 'danced' with him. "Oh yeah, keep making fun of me." Harry's head shot up, "How about when I asked Luna to the Slug Club with a yellow eyebrow!"

Rebecca laughed harder, reaching her hand up to spin Harry like Fred always did her. The hurt wasn't as sharp as she thought it would be, not with her friends alongside her laughing and hurting too. Harry threw his head back in hysterics as he turned back into Rebecca to hard and sent them all stumbling.

And then the song ended and things went back to how they had been.

*******************************************

Rebecca had spent the next day tossing rocks down the mountain side, not thinking about anything. The locket was on Hermione and Rebecca knew it would be her turn next. She dreaded it. The worst thing to do with the locket was to sleep, it turned your dreams into montages of violence, your worst thoughts that you shoved to the bottom of your being and pretended you never had were forced to play over and over. Rebecca stood up and went to take a short nap before they switched.

Inside the tent, Rebecca through her hands over her eyes. "Sorry!"

Harry jumped up, pulling the snitch from his mouth. "No! It wasn't like that!"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "You snog your snitch for-"

"It wasn't snogging!" Harry's cheeks burnt. "I was thinking about something Hermione said once, something about snitches having flesh memories. I caught this by-"

"Eating it out of the air." Rebecca crossed the tent intrigued. "And?"

Harry held it back up to his lips and turned it to Rebecca, "It says, 'I open at the close.'"

"Well what the hell does that mean?" Rebecca asked.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know but you know exactly who will."

And that's how they both ran out of the tent, calling for Hermione in unison. She was on the far side of the mountain top, flipping through a book. "I don't know." Hermione hated saying that, especially when they looked to her with so much expectation. "I found something too, though. Look at this, it's been inked in. I thought maybe it was an eye, but I'm not so sure. It isn't a rune and it's not in Spellman's Syllabary."

Harry pointed at the triangle with a circle and a line inside, "Luna's dad wore that at the wedding!"

"But why a children's book?" Rebecca asked, looking out into the distance as she mulled it over. "Children can't even read, you think about that?" Harry and Hermione stared at her. "We call them children's books, but it's not like their the ones reading the stories. Their parents do. They should be called 'parent's books.'"

Harry took a sharp breath, Rebecca's odd thought pattern giving him an opportunity to mention something he'd been thinking about.

*******************************************

<3


	23. CHAPTER 18

**"I want to go to Godric's Hollow."** Harry spoke to the girls on top of the mountain, the winter sun slowly setting. "It's where we were born, it's where our parents died-"

"That's exactly where he'll expect you to go." Hermione reasoned. "Because it means something to you two."

"But," Rebecca tilted her head, "It would mean something to him, too. You-Know-Who almost died there. It's bound to be a sore spot." Rebecca despised that Voldemort had weaponised his name. All their efforts to never be afraid of a name only for it to turn into a beacon for the snatchers.

"That'll be the exact type of place he'd be likely to leave a horcrux." Harry stood up as Hermione did, Rebecca staying at their feet.

"It's dangerous." Hermione sighed heavily, "But even I have to admit, I've been thinking we'll have to go there anyway." Harry punched the air. "I think it's possible something else is hidden there."

"What?" Rebecca jumped up. "What do you think is there?"

Hermione looked at Rebecca, "The sword. If Dumbledore wanted you two to find it, but not for it to fall into the Ministry's hands, where better to hide it than the birthplace of the founder of Gryffindor."

"Oh." Rebecca avoided their eyes. "I didn't put that together. Guess there's not many Godric's though."

*******************************************

"Course there's bloody snow." Rebecca shivered. "Always has to be snow." 

Hermione looked around warily, ignoring Rebecca's complaints. Packing up the campsite had taken a bit longer than they'd expected and by the time they were ready to apparate to the birthplace of Potters and Gryffindors, the sun had set. "I still think we should have used Polyjuice potion."

Harry repeated himself, again. "No, Hermione. This is where we were born. We're not returning as anyone but ourselves." Harry held his arms out for the girls to put their arms through, the three of them walking down the street in a row. There were lights in the windows and wreaths on the doors, smoke poured out of the houses' chimneys and filled the air with a smell of coziness. A bell tolled out through the night and a man left a door a ways down from them and cried out for those he left to have a great night and to enjoy the gift.

Rebecca looked around more carefully and spoke softly, "I think it's Christmas eve."

Harry looked around, nodding before he turned to the side. They were next to a cemetery. "Do you think they're in there?"

Hermione answered for them, Harry and Rebecca realising that this could be the closest they'd been to their parents in just under two decades. "I think so, there's only one way to find out." Hermione walked behind Harry and Rebecca, sensing that this was something they needed to do only with each other. They still had their arms linked as they walked up and down the rows, reading the gravestones with care. Hermione noticed a strange indention on the plaque near the path, and, upon brushing it off, found a name. "Ignotus Peverell."

Harry and Rebecca stood in front of the grave, both expecting different things. Harry looked to the marble with _Lily Potter_ and _James Potter_ carved into it and thought he'd feel a burst of inspiration, that his parents would bestow on him where they needed to go next. Rebecca thought the final resting place of her parents would bring an end to the hole left by Ron's words and they didn't. She stood there, next to her blood, and felt like she and Harry were planets away from the masses of those they cared about.

Hermione joined them, bending to her knees before spinning her wand in a circle. When Hermione stood back up, a wreath was resting against the quote beneath their names. _"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."_

A sob escaped Harry and Rebecca pulled his head down against her shoulder, patting his back. "Hey, we're here. It's alright."

Harry nodded, the words not pausing his crying. "I know that you're here but nothing's right. You're both here and-and I don't know where to go. I don't know what we're supposed to do. I'm failing you and I'm failing them. They died and-"

"That's enough, Harry." Rebecca's hands tightened around him, her hand icy against his emotion-heated cheeks. "They died so that we could live. As long as we do that, we're not failing them." Harry took a moment and composed himself before standing on his own and wiping his nose. 

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Hermione grabbed his arm. "I love you two."

Rebecca shook her head, "I love you both, so much." Rebecca paused and gave them a small smile, "Happy Christmas." 

Harry turned to them, "Happy Christmas." He looked past Hermione and Rebecca and froze. "There's someone watching, by the church." Rebecca tightened her grip on her wand and looked after Hermione did. There was an old woman down the path, an old woman who stared at them a moment longer before shuffling away. 

"I don't like this, Harry." Hermione whispered, Harry leading them after the lady who walked in the street ahead of them.

"This is stupid. We are literally following a stranger." Rebecca raised her hand, "Almost complete lack of parental influence and even I knew that's not a good thing."

Hermione looked to Harry even more seriously, "She didn't even know what a dentist was and she knows you don't follow a stranger!" Hermione lowered her voice, "Though, we really do need to get that fixed. You're supposed to go to the dentist twice a year and the eye doctor twice-"

"You have to go back once you have glasses?" Rebecca asked incredulously. "But I've already got the bloody glasses!"

Hermione's jaw dropped, "That's it, that is our next stop. There'll be an opthamologist in a small town somewhere. When's that prescription even from?"

Rebecca stared at Hermione, "When I got them? I don't know."

Harry gave Rebecca a concerned glance before shaking his head, "Right now we need to follow her. I think that's Bathilda Bagshot and she knew Dumbledore. If he'd left the sword here for us, it'd be with her. I'm sure of it."

Harry raced ahead, stepping into Bathilda's decrepit house through the left open door. Rebecca and Hermione were behind the two of them, Harry reaching for the box of matches the old woman struggled with and striking it aflame instantly. "Miss Bagshot?" Harry asked. "Did you know Albus Dumbledore?"

Bathilda stared at him and picked up the now lit candle, not answering.

Rebecca stepped forward, "Miss, do you know-"

"Rebecca, come look at this." Hermione interrupted. Rebecca, now at Hermione's side, listened carefully. "Don't mention the sword. Something's off, something's not right here." Rebecca and Hermione looked over their shoulders as Harry followed the woman up the spiral staircase. "And...he's gone."

"Bloody idiot," Rebecca muttered, climbing over the piles of junk on the floor to get to the bottom of the stairs. "Be ready to go, okay? Something _is_ off." Rebecca halted in the hall the stairs spit out to, Harry face to face with Bathilda Bagshot and hissing in Parseltongue. She cursed the fact that she couldn't understand it. "Harry?" Rebecca called. Bathilda closed the door between them, Rebecca running down the hall and knocking on it. "Harry!"

Hermione, downstairs, followed the buzzing that seemed to reverberate through the floorboards. _"Lumos."_ Hermione's wand illuminated the room ahead, flies. Flies were swarming around pools of blood.

Rebecca knocked on the door more insistently, "Miss Bagshot, open this door!"

Harry stood with his back against the wall, Bathilda jerking violently before she froze and opened her mouth. The woman's face froze before she dropped to the floor a pile of robes. Rebecca kicked the door open just as a snake larger than any either had ever seen flailed out and snapped its jaws at them. It lunged at Harry primarily, Harry using whatever he could pick up to dodge its lunges. The first one sent the stool he'd held into splinters and the second sent him through the wall.

 _"Serpens mori!"_ Rebecca tried, the spell only turning the snake onto her with no negative effect. Rebecca jumped to the left, slamming the door on the snake's neck as it entered the hall. It turned back into the room and launched itself through the hole, wrapping around Harry for the killing squeeze. Harry was thrown about, his wand useless in such close quarters. His fingers brushed against a brick from the wall and he brought up over his head onto the snake.

Hermione sprinted up the stairs just as Rebecca put herself over Harry's panting body, the snake slithering towards them reared for another, final strike. Hermione put up a block that sent the snake down into a hole in the floorboards, Harry's wand clattering to the floor near it. Rebecca rolled off him and snatched it off the ground before standing back with the other two. Harry held an arm gingerly against his chest.

They panted, thinking everything was over. The snake wasn't done. It waited until a few seconds had passed before launching back up at them with a renewed vigor. Hermione was faster. _"Confringo!"_ A burst of flame sent the snake back down to the ground.

Hermione grabbed onto them tightly and Rebecca was dragged towards the window where Hermione took the lead in apparating them back into the wilderness.

*******************************************

"I don't want to." Fred called from his bed. Someone else was knocking at the door again. 

George opened the door and Cedric lingered in the doorway. "You're going to want to see this."

Fred swung his legs out of bed with an angry sigh. It was bad enough to be away from Rebecca. It was worse to be stuck in Aunt Muriel's shell cottage. But it was absolute hell to not be allowed to be miserable. Fred clomped down the stairs angrily, "I just want to be-Oh my god." Fred's hand shot to his mouth. "No, don't-She-"

"They're fine!" Ron answered quickly. "They all were."

"Were?" Fred asked in a breathy tone. Seeing his younger brother at the table had, for a moment, made him think the unimaginable had happened. "What are you doing here?" Fred noticed that Ron's eyes was bruised and his lip was split. "Was it snatchers?"

"Sit down, Fred." Molly patted the chair next to her. "We're going to talk."

When Ron had finished retelling his tale with an admirable level of absolute honesty, he lowered his head and repeated what he'd said to Rebecca before he'd left them. Ron had hardly finished when Fred launched himself across the table and sent glasses carrenning to shattering deaths. Fred slammed Ron's back into the floor bringing his fist back to punch Ron. Ron made no move to defend himself, only closed his eyes for the imminent justice he deserved. Fred's hand stayed in the air. Ron opened his eyes a few moments later when nothing had happened and stared up at the emotions flashing across Fred's face.

One moment there'd be rage, the next despair. Underneath them all was loss though. Loss of respect for Ron, loss of hope for their mission, loss in hope for the future. Ron shook his head, "I'm so sorry."

Fred stood up and looked around at the mess Molly was magically cleaning. "I'll be in my room." He climbed the stairs in silence, charming the door to keep the sounds from pouring out into the rest of the house.

*******************************************

Rebecca filled buckets of water at the ice-carrying river they found themselves near by levitating the buckets to the edge and then placing them back on the snowy ground next to her. Harry had been unconscious for hours, the snake had bitten him at some point during the altercation. Hermione focused on building a fire that combatted the chill around them.

"Where are we again?" Rebecca asked, her breath pluming in front of her as she spoke with the buckets back by the tent.

Hermione smiled and looked around, "Forest of Dean." Both girls took a moment of introspective silence at the name of their missing classmate. "I came here once with mum and dad. Years ago." Hermione looked around them, at the twisting trees with snow-layered branches. At the twisting river in the distance. At the solitude of it all. "It's just how I remember it." Rebecca eased herself to the ground in front of her and shivered, scooting closer to the fire. "It's like nothing's changed. Not true of course," Hermione gave Rebecca a cynical smile. "Everything's changed."

Rebecca looked around and shook her head. "I haven't changed. I'm still me, I think at least." Rebecca shrugged, "We could stay here, you know. I may have suggested an 'island' lesbian colony, but I could make do with a forest colony."

Hermione laughed at that. "I am not starting a colony with you, sapphic or not!" Rebecca grinned and looked at Hermione through the glasses that only reminded her of another stop that needed to be made. "I was serious, you know. We are going to find an in-store glasses maker and you're going to get a new prescription. You probably don't know what any of us actually look like!"

Rebecca sighed, "I know exactly what you look like. You have blue eyes, right?" Hermione threw a handful of snow at her. "Alright, alright, I'm taking the mick. I know they're brown."

Hermione brought the subject to the book on her lap, "This name sound familiar to you: Gellert Grindelwald?"

Rebecca thought a long moment and shook her head, "Is it supposed to?"

Hermione went to answer just as Harry burst out of the tent, wobbling from after effects of the potions Hermione and Rebecca had forced down his throat. "Meh and!" He shouted, delirious. "Where's my wand!"

Rebecca stood up and caught him by the arm, settling him onto the ground in front of the tree she'd just been sitting at. Hermione hoped that by explaining it to him while he wasn't fully aware, the blow would come softer. "It-The curse rebounded as we were leaving Godric's Hollow." Harry's wand lay snapped in two. "I-We've tried to mend it. Wands are different, so we haven't figured it out just yet, but-"

"It's done?" Harry asked, looking at his wand with unfocused eyes. "My wand?"

"No, Harry. We'll fix it." Rebecca spoke softly and lifted him back to his feet. "You good on watch?" She asked Hermione as Harry stumbled. 

"Yeah, you take him in and get warm."

Rebecca nodded and tried to lead Harry back into the tent. "C'mon Harry, let's have a little lie down, yeah?" Harry turned to the double cot and stepped forward without letting Rebecca move to her own bed. "Harry?"

"I don't want to be alone." Harry said, slurring slightly. "I don't...alone."

Rebecca lifted the blanket and covered him tightly before kissing his forehead and lying next to him. "You're not alone, Harry."

*******************************************

"It's been days now, Fred." George spoke through the door with desperation evident in his voice. "You have to eat something!"

Fred didn't answer. He did the same thing everyday since Ron's return. He woke up, cursed the fact that he woke up alone, sat at the desk in his room and wrote. Then he'd obsessively work on the Shield-Caps Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was making for the Order until he'd write some more before lying in his bed through the evening and wait until morning came to do it all again.

He, in a suggestion by Cedric he'd found strangely therapeutic, wrote in a journal everything he wished he could say to Rebecca. It was nearly the same thing everyday, but there was a momentary relief when he got into it and could close his eyes as the quill scratched on the paper and pretend he was conversing with her.

_"I miss you, did you know that? I'm sure you're missing me, I hope so at least. That's where you would hit me and then I'd pretend it hurt so that you'd feel badly and kiss it better. It never hurt, you'd never do anything to hurt me. Rebecca, I hate this. I hate the world. I hate that the world needs you as much as I do because I would let it all burn and you're too good for that, you have to do what's right. Fuck what's right..."_

With Ron's return came an increasingly angry tone in his writings. Part of the reason that Fred stayed upstairs was that he wasn't sure he could control himself with Ron there. Not with Ron in the house they were trapped in for safety while his Rebecca, his wife for all intents and purposes, was out doing what Ron wasn't strong enough to do.

"Fred?" A different voice spoke behind the door, Sirius'. "I'm coming in."

Fred didn't move from his desk, continuing to write as Sirius closed the door behind him and set a plate on the desk. Fred wrote on, ignoring it. It smelt disgusting. Nothing tasted as it was supposed to, nothing looked appetising, nothing was enjoyable. Not when he was bathing in misery. 

"Son," Sirius laid a hand on Fred's wrist. "It's your responsibility to keep yourself healthy. You have to eat to do that."

Fred let the quill rest in the inkwell and he sat back in his chair. "I don't care."

Sirius sighed and slid the plate more in front of him, "We all have to do things we don't want to, but it's not about you. How's your mother supposed to feel as you lock yourself up here every hour of every day? How's your twin?"

Fred stared at the sandwich murderously. "I don't care."

Sirius reached forward and smacked Fred's head. "That's a lie, you're being a child."

"I am not!" Fred shouted as he stood up, looming over the older man. "I miss-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sirius voice shook the house. Sirius ran a hand through his hair and spoke slightly calmer, though not by much. "Don't you dare tell me that you miss her and that's why you're doing this to yourself!" Sirius shook his head, "I spent twelve years away from my RJ. I spent every full moon knowing he was hurting on his own. I spent every birthday, every anniversary, every night-"

"I'm sorry." Fred bowed his head, his shoulders shaking. "I didn't-I didn't mean that. I know you know."

Sirius pulled the tall boy, as that's what he was in that moment, a boy, into his shoulder and waited for his tears to dry. Fred stood back up and Sirius put the plate into his hands. "Eat, if not for you, for her."

Fred picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

*******************************************

Harry opened his eyes a few hours later, Rebecca sleeping deeply on the cot next to him. Harry remembered what had happened before he'd slept and sat up slowly. _"Have to use Hermione or Rebecca's wand, until mine can be fixed."_ Harry thought. _"If mine can be fixed."_

Rebecca stirred as he left the tent, but the cold air that seeped in forced her to burrow under the covers farther and the warmth acted as a force to keep her asleep longer.

"Better?" Hermione asked as he took the same spot against the tree he had before, although this time he had his wits about him. "The bite, that is."

Harry nodded, pulling his sleeve up so she could see that her healing had left only two, much smaller injuries. "Two of us have to go to a town, we need food."

Hermione sighed, "It'll be the last of the money from...Caterham." Hermione refused to say it was where Rebecca was from. "There was something else, wasn't there?" Harry stared at her uncomprehendingly. Hermione took the locket off and handed it to Harry, the obliviousness of he and Rebecca too much to handle after wearing it for so long. "Where she got the money, there was something else. She-"

"It isn't important." Harry had sensed it too, but in the grand scheme of things, it really didn't matter. "It's just not important."

Hermione stood up and brushed her blanket off before handing it to him. "We'll go now, it's early enough for shops to be open and not busy. I was serious, we're finding an eye tech. I can't even imagine...That has to be fixed."

Harry nodded, even the Dursleys brought him to check ups with Dudley. "Don't ask about the money."

Hermione gave him a look, "I know, Harry. I do have manners." She sighed, "I just-It always makes me wonder how much we really know about her."

Harry stared into the fire, "We know everything we need to."

*******************************************

Rebecca pursed her lips as they entered the empty market. "Where are we again?" Hermione picked a town on the map that wasn't too far from the Forest of Dean, but far enough that their location couldn't be found if they were recognised. The optical office on the main street didn't open for half an hour which was fine with Rebecca because she wasn't even sure why there were wasting time on such a pointless endeavour.

"You know where we are, " Hermione didn't look up from the canned food in the basket Rebecca carried. "You just want me to say it so you can whinge."

Rebecca muttered and reached for a can of pasta circles. "Look, discounted."

Hermione read through the ingredients, "This doesn't have a single-This hardly has any nutrients!" Rebecca put four cans in the basket. "You are unbelievable." 

Rebecca tried to look at her seriously but grinned, "I know." The man working the till looked at them with disinterest, scanning their items quickly and ignoring that they carried them out by the armful. Hermione slipped them into her bag with as little dents or noise as possible. "We really can just go-"

"No." Hermione dragged Rebecca to the door with cartoon glasses on it and opened it without a word. 

"Morning!" A frazzled woman poked up from under the counter. "Sorry, lost an eye."

Rebecca picked up the white ball that rolled towards them from the woman and tossed it in her hand, "I _see_ that."

The woman laughed loudly, taking the eye from Rebecca and putting it back on the stand behind the glasses before settling enough to talk to them. "That-That was quite good." The woman held her hand out, "Dr Brigg, ladies. You are?"

Hermione answered, "Lavender and Yara, ma'am."

Dr Briggs looked at them carefully, neither of them looked like those names at all. "And you're here for..."

"A new prescription," Rebecca tapped her frames. "Apparently that's a thing." Hermione followed them through the exam, answering every question with a well-placed, vague story. Dr Brigg listened, but didn't believe a word of it.

"Specs off, dear." Rebecca held them in one hand. "Cover your right eye and read this row, okay?" 

Rebecca held her hand up and looked at shapes on the poster. "4. 9. H. P. 8? Maybe a G?"

Hermione stared at what Rebecca was looking at. There wasn't a number to be seen. "And the left." Dr Brigg scribbled on her paper a few notes. The left, albeit slightly better, wasn't good. "I'm confused as to why you're parents haven't brought you in before. I think I need to have a talk with them before we go any farther, this is a serious issue ladies. We're talking neglect on a nearly criminal scale."

Hermione scrambled, "You can't! talk to them that is. They're dea-"

"Dead." Rebecca changed. "Both of 'em. Dropped like flies, one and then the other."

"Oh my!" Dr Brigg held a hand to her mouth dramatically before putting it on her hip and sighing, "That's enough stories, I do believe. The truth, or this one remains impaired." Dr Brigg hopped up onto the chair behind the computer and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to call the police, if that's what you're worried about. I think vision is one of the most important things in the world, hence the occupation. But," The woman stared down at them. "I won't be lied to."

"Well..." Rebecca put her old glasses back on, "We haven't lied. Not once. If you're not going to help us, we'll be on our way."

Hermione followed her to the door. "Are you sure about that?" Dr Brigg called. "Did you know that street signs are meant to be read, they're not just for decoration?"

Rebecca looked to Hermione confused, she had in fact always thought that. The letters were far too small to be seen from the ground. Hermione's eyes widened at the shock on Rebecca's face and marched back to the counter where the doctor looked smugly at them. "Runaways, from a very real, very deadly danger." Hermione shook her head, "That's all we can tell you. For your safety and ours."

"And the glasses? Who in their right mind wears the same pair from childhood without questions?"

Rebecca laid her frames on the counter, "Look, lady. Clearly there's a lot going on here. You going to swap these out for whatever you wrote down or are we leaving?"

Dr Brigg took the glasses, "For the pun. Without it, you'd both be booted out for your cheek." She set a bowl of sweets onto the counter between them as she took them to the work table behind the computer, popping the lenses out and setting them aside. "The same frame?"

"Please." Rebecca liked her frames. They were similar in their simplicity to Harry's, but hers were rimless rectangles. It took the doctor the better part of an hour, but she was true to her word, she set cleaned, updated glasses into Rebecca's hands and put her elbows on the counter to see her reaction. The prescription was so different, it would be a noticeable difference.

Rebecca slipped them on and gasped, looking around the room quickly. Things were defined, more colourful, but it was the words...the words are what surprised her. She walked away from the counter to the shelves of labelled frames and read them hungrily. Before hand, they would have just been smudges. "I didn't-I thought that was how everyone saw."

Dr Brigg watched curiously as Rebecca looked to Hermione for the first time and hurried to be in front of her, scanning her face religiously. "You are..." Rebecca laughed and held her hands to the side of her face. "I can't believe this."

"Believing is seeing." Dr Brigg offered happily. A police car rolled down the street and Rebecca's joy was extinguished immediately. Hermione grabbed her arm and moved so that she and Rebecca were crouched next to the doctor's feet. "What-"

The door jingled. "Morning, doctor." A deep voice called. "Y'aven't seen a girl roun' here, have you? Got reports of two and we need 'em."

Dr Brigg paused, tapping her finger to her chin like she was thinking. "No, I don't think I have. What do they look like?"

The police officer rattled off some facts, "...black hair, one with brown. Dangerous, they are. Violent."

Dr Brigg shook her head and looked down at the calendar in front of her, "I haven't, Humphrey, but I know exactly who to call if I see anything." The door jingled again, though Dr Brigg held her hand down for them to wait. "What on earth have you two gotten yourselves into?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Again, it's safer if you don't know. Do you have a toilet we can use before we leave?" Dr Brigg relayed instructions to room past the examination room. Rebecca couldn't believe there had been so much about her she hadn't noticed before, like the fact that the doctor's eyes weren't just brown but flecked with green. She wasn't just pale, she had slight shadows of freckles across her nose. Rebecca wondered what else she had never noticed.

Rebecca paused in the hall, "Thank you. For all this." Hermione pulled Rebecca back into motion. Inside the bathroom, Hermione pulled out the box of money again, only a few pounds still inside. "It's the thought that counts, Hermione."

"I know, I just wish there was more we could do." Hermione laid the money onto the sink and unlocked the door. "Ready?"

Rebecca nodded, "Ready." They apparated away.

Dr Brigg, curious as to what could be taking them so long, would find a scribbled thank you and a pile of money in the empty bathroom. The doctor would wonder about how they got out without passing her for hours, years even.

*******************************************

"Blimey, Harry!" Rebecca had gushed over how handsome and how beautiful Hermione was well into the evening. "No bloody wonder you're one of the Chosen Ones!"

Harry laughed and ate from the can Rebecca held out to him. "That's enough, really. Just wait until you..." Harry's voice trailed away.

Rebecca grew somber, "Yeah, I know."

Hermione tried to take first watch, but Rebecca wouldn't let either of them. "You two go on in and rest a while, I'll get you when it's time to switch." 

Harry scratched the back of his neck, "About earlier-"

"What? Dinner?" Rebecca made it clear she didn't want to talk about it. "Get some sleep, okay?"

Harry nodded, "Okay. You're okay, right?"

Rebecca waved her wand over the snow in front of her and made a miniature snowman that slowly hopped towards Harry, "I'm fine, but he's not. Better get somewhere warm...he looks menacing."

Harry stared at the snowman and kicked it over. "I'm shaking." Hermione caught his arm and walked him back to the tent. 

Rebecca grinned out at the fire and kept herself busy by making an army of small snowmen, only stopping when she ran out of places to put them without having to get up. She looked out at the clearing in front of the tent and shook her head in disbelief. Snow wasn't just white, it had piles and shadows and it raised and dipped with the ground underneath. The icicles weren't just there, they glittered and shone and dripped intermittently with small drops that, in that past, would have gone unnoticed and now she saw how the fire made them flash a brief moment as they fell and hit the snow below.

And, as she always did in the quiet moments she happened to find herself alone, her thoughts turned to Fred.

*******************************************

Ron stayed at the cottage for just over a week, Fred only going downstairs on the morning of his departure. Sirius brought up every meal, talking sense into Fred about every topic. Self-care, managing anger, dealing with issues that didn't want to be dealt with.

The latter two more particular to Ron. Ron had a backpack on with food Molly had packed and letters for the others, if he was able to find them. George had slipped the one Fred had for Rebecca in with the others days earlier, knowing Fred was unable to face him just yet. The room fell silent as Fred appeared in the doorway, stubble peppered along his jaw and dark bags under his eyes.

Ron stood up straighter, avoiding Fred's eyes. Fred crossed the room and grabbed Ron by the straps of his backpack, forcing him to back pedal until his back hit the wall and Fred bent his head down. Fleur jumped up to stop him, but Bill caught her hand and gave her a subtle shake of his head.

"When you find them," Fred spoke softly, though his words would stay with Ron much longer than he could imagine. "You make it clear that you were wrong, that you didn't mean it, and that you, you alone, said those words." Fred shook his head, "You'd best make her know this will always be her family, too."

Ron nodded, "I know." He whispered.

Fred stared at Ron a long moment before pulling him into a tight hug, "Good." Fred held the back of Ron's head. "I should beat you into next year."

"You should."

"At least you know." Fred stepped back and shook his head, "You'll tell her that-"

"Yeah, I will mate." Ron looked around sadly. "I-I really fucked up."

Molly didn't admonish his language. "And you'll fix it." Molly held him tightly.

*******************************************

<3


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